
Class ~T( TkQ2_ 

Book. £kl 

Copyright N ,,! ^* 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



Locomotive Catechism 



AN UP-TO-DATE, PRACTICAL AND COMPLETE 
WORK ON THE LOCOMOTIVE— TREATING ON THE 
DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, REPAIR AND RUNNING 
OF ALL KINDS OF LOCOMOTIVES. INCLUDES 
CHAPTERS ON THE AIR BRAKE, THE WALSCHAERT 
VALVE GEAR, THE ELECTRIC HEADLIGHT, ETC. 

Containing Over 
3,000 Questions With Their Answers 

INTENDED AS EXAMINATION QUESTIONS AND TO POST AND REMIND 

ENGINEERS, FIREMEN, TRAINMEN, SWITCHMEN, SHOP 

AND ROUNDHOUSE MEN 

By ROBERT GRIMSHAW, M. E. 
h 




Fully illustrated by 437 engravings and thi'ee folding plates 

TWENTY-SEVENTH EDITION 

Entirely Revised, Enlarged and Reset 

NEW YORK : 

THE NORMAN W. HENLEY PUBLISHING COMPANY 

132 Nassau Street 
1908 



: 






LIBRARY of OONfiHESS 
Two Copie$ Kettivso 

FEB 4 Id08 

tfOMfi'IJf4K Cliff* 

?t$$ A XXc, flu, 

oop>y b: 






<*■ 



Copyrighted 1908 

By THE NORMAN W. HENLEY PUBLISHING CO. 

Copyrighted 1898 

By NORMAN W. HENLEY & CO. 

Copyrighted 1896 Copyrighted 1893 

By ROBERT GRIMSHAW • By ROBERT GRIMSHAW 




Composition, Electrotyping 

and Presswork 

By Macgowan & Slipper 

New York, U.S.A. 



TO 

Superintendent of Motive Pozver, Pennsylvania Railroad, 
IN APPRECIATION OF HIS 

ENGINEERING AND EXECUTIVE ABILITY 

AND HIS 

COURTESY AND MANLY QUALITIES, 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 

IT HAS for many centuries been the custom to give a book 
a preface at the last moment. For this there is probably 
some good reason. Sometimes it affords the author oppor- 
tunity to excuse himself for his temerity, or to apologize for 
his shortcomings, or to repeat to the public the hopes which 
he and his publishers have so often exchanged, as to the 
book's success. 

On this occasion, however, there appears to be no great 
amount of presumption in doing for locomotive engineers and 
for those who wish to become such, what I have already done 
for stationary engineers, actual and prospective, and what the 
technical press and those for whom my other Catechisms 
were written, have thanked me for doing. As for the hopes 
of success, there is not even that excuse, for the sales in 
advance of publication indicate that the publishers' venture 
will be profitable, and my own pride and author's royalties 
stand in no need of sympathy. There might remain the 
apology — but as I have done the best I could under the cir- 
cumstances, and as angels could do no more (than their best, 
be it understood) that excuse for an excuse falls through. 

Yet there must be a Preface — and a reason therefor. 

Well, the reason why this is a Catechism instead of some- 
thing else shall furnish the reason for the Preface. 

There are some classes of information which are like unto 
that triumph of modern ingenuity, the six-shooter, which, 
when wanted, is wanted like — well, like everything, and 
wanted right away. The Catechetical form gives each ques- 
tion (hurried or leisurely) its answer, very largely indepen- 
dent of any other question or matter, leaving out "ifs" and 
"buts" and "considerings." If there are only enough such 



questions and answers, and if the former are properly chosen 
(which includes being up to date) and the latter correct, this 
Catechism ought to be useful and satisfactory to those who 
buy it. As to the number of queries — as there are nearly 
thirteen hundred, the ground may be said to be reasonably 
well covered. As to their selection — novices and expert loco- 
motive engine-runners have chosen many of them, and exam- 
ining engineers many more. Many of the rest have come to 
me in the line of my regular work as consulting engineer in 
this country and abroad. As far as able I will answer, free 
by mail and promptly, any question of general interest con- 
cerning the locomotive, the answer to which does not appear 
in the current edition. 

There only remains the item of correctness in the replies. 
While I am a long way on the blind side of infallibility (and 
have the compositor and the proof reader as scapegoats 
anyhow, where errors are found), the reader ought to get 
out of the book his money's worth and his time's worth. 

I hope to make and keep, through this work, as many 
friends as by my other Catechisms — and friends are better 
than money any day — and that, through my efforts, my 
readers may increase in knowledge and in earning power. 

ROBERT GRIMSHAW. 



PREFACE TO THE TWENTY-SEVENTH EDITION. 

THIS edition has been so thoroughly revised that it may 
be said to be a new book from cover to cover. It has 
been greatly enlarged and the matter more conven- 
iently arranged. The sixteen hundred questions and answers 
in the preceding edition have been increased to nearly four 
thousand, while over two hundred new illustrations and three 
folding plates have been added, making the total number of 
illustrations contained in the book four hundred and thirty- 
seven. 

Most of the official questions used by prominent American 
railways in examining firemen and engine-runners for em- 
ployment and promotion are to be found therein, with their 
appropriate answers. 

Compound engines of the latest type receive special atten- 
tion. The section on indicator diagrams should be found 
especially valuable as facilitating proper understanding of 
receiver and receiverless compounds. 

The superheater, as applied in regular railway service, 
receives for the first time a place in a popular work on the 
locomotive. Among other additional subjects included is the 
electric headlight. That portion relating to breakdowns and 
other accidents, and to adjustments with a view to economy 
and smooth running, has received special attention ; so that 
there is scarcely a part of either a simple or a compound 
locomotive which does not find place therein. 

In some cases the desirability of fully treating each heading 
as far as possible without time-wasting cross-references, has 
led to considering the same subject from different or oppo- 
site standpoints. For instance, there is under "Slide Valves"" 



a question and an answer on the purpose of outside lap; 
again, under "Cut-off and Expansion/' as to method of cut- 
off. These useful and intentional duplications are, however, 
not numerous. 

Many matters referring to general steam-engine theory and 
practice, rather than to locomotives in particular (but includ- 
ing locomotive work), are treated in great detail in the 
author's "Steam Engine Catechism" issued by the publishers 
of this volume, and a careful study of which is recommended 
to every engineman, fireman or candidate. 

The author begs to acknowledge his indebtedness to the 
various technical railroad journals for the use of numerous 
illustrations in aiding to make the Locomotive Catechism the 
standard book on the subject. 

February, 1908. ROBERT GRIMSHAW. 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



CHAPTER I. 
GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 

Q. What are the essential features of a locomotive engine? 

A. (i) Boiler, (2) engines, (3) running-gear. 

Q. What name is applied to the type of boiler usually em- 
ployed for locomotives?* 

A. Horizontal tubular with internal fire-box. 

Q. What name might be applied to the engines usually 
employed on locomotives? 

A. Twin horizontal double-acting high-pressure non-com- 
pound, non-condensing link-motion slide-valve engines. 

Q. Are all locomotive engines of the twin type? 

A. Nearly all; some, however (compounds, for instance), 
have the cylinder on one side of different diameter from that 
on the other ; some have one cylinder on each side and one in 
the center ; some again have four cylinders. 

Q. Are all locomotive engines horizontal? 

A. Nearly all; but some are slightly inclined downward 
toward the crank-pin, and while nearly horizontal are not 
strictly so. 

Q. What is the meaning of "double-acting" ? 

A. An engine is double-acting when steam is admitted on 
both sides of its piston, instead of on only one, as in a West- 
inghouse stationary engine. 

0. Are all locomotive engines double-acting? 

A. Yes. 

Q. W hat is the meaning of "high pressure''? 

A. It is a misnomer. The term came in when non-con- 
densing engines were first made, to represent the difference 
* See special section under heading " Boilers," page 40. 



12 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

between an engine which worked with high-pressure steam 
(either with or without a condenser, but particularly without) 
and one which worked usually by the aid of the vacuum pro- 
duced by a condenser. 

Q. What is the difference between a compound and a non- 
compound engine?* 

A. In a compound the steam exhausted from one cylinder 
is passed into another, there to do more work as it expands 
further. In a non-compound the steam after being exhausted 
from one cylinder does not go into any other. 

Q. Is there any relation between compound and condensing 
engines; that is, may an engine be both? 

A. Yes ; many engines, particularly marine, are both com- 
pound and condensing ; that is, the steam after being exhausted 
from one cylinder, in which it has done work, passes into 
another cylinder, there to do further work, and then goes into 
a condenser. 

Q. What is a condensing engine? 

A. One in which the steam, after having done work in a 
cylinder, is exhausted therefrom at a certain pressure above 
vacuum or above the atmosphere, and at a certain tempera- 
ture, then passes into a chamber where it is cooled by contact 
with a jet or spray of cold water, or with sheets or tubes 
cooled by cold water circulating on the other side thereof. 

Q. Are most locomotives non-compound? 

A. Yes ; but compounds have been used in Europe for 
some years; and in this country, since 1890, orders for them 
have been increasing in proportion. 

Q. Are all locomotives non-condensing? 

A. Yes ; it would be impossible, at least in the present state 
of steam engineering, to carry on a train that would pay 
expenses, enough water to cool the exhaust. The time may 

* See special section on " Compound Engines," page 499^ 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION 



13 




^0 P" 

Fig. i. Front End View, Pennsylvania R. R. Engine, Class " O. ' 



14 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

come when by greater efficiency of the engine itself, calling for 
less steam per horse-power; by decreased friction of engine 
and of train, calling for less horse-power ; and by increased 
efficiency of condensers themselves, calling for less water per 
horse-power — a locomotive may be -run condensing; but that 
. time is not yet. 

0. What is a slide-valve? * 

A. A flat distributing-valve which has a to-and-fro motion 
upon a flat seat, usually in a direction parallel to that of the 
engine piston, this valve having in its working face, one or 
more cavities, usually serving as a passage for the exhaust. 

Q. Do all locomotives employ slide-valves? 

A. Nearly every one that has been built has employed a 
slide-valve of one sort or another. Attempts have been made 
to use other types, but in general have been failures, not hav- 
ing the simplicity, durability, and range of work of the ordi- 
nary slide. 

Q. What is a link-motion engine?] 

A. One in which the valve (generally a slide) is moved by 
being connected with a bar or link (usually slotted) which 
receives a vibrating motion by connection with a rod attached 
to strap surrounding an eccentric disk set on a driving- 
axle. There are usually two such disks for each cylinder, to 
enable reversing. The link position being varied, the amount 
of motion that it imparts to the valve may be altered at will. 

Q. Are all locomotives of the link-motion type? 

A. Most of them ; but there is a system in which the valve 
is moved by an attachment to levers receiving their motion 
from the cross-head, or from the connecting-rod between the 
cross-head and the crank-pin ; the amount of motion thus 
given being variable by slight changes in the relative and 
actual positions of the connecting-levers. 

* See special section on " Slide Valves," page 225 
f See special section on M Valve Gears," page 249. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



15 




iFig. 2. Rear View, and Part Section through Cab, Pennsylvania 
R. R. Engine, Class " O." 



16 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What name is generally applied to an engine in which a 
reciprocating piston drives a crank-shaft or an axle? 

A. A rotatory or rotative engine, as distinguished from a 
rotary engine, in which the piston or follower rotates. 

Q. What is the reason that locomotives have tzvo or more 
cylinders ? 

A. Because, with a single cylinder, an engine having a crank 
and connecting-rod is difficult to get started in case crosshead, 
crank-pin, and main-shaft center get in the same straight line ; 
and because, in case there was but one engine, and that got 
crippled, it would be impossible to move the machine by its 
own power; whereas with two, one side may be disconnected 
and the other used. 

Q. Are the engines of all locomotives reversible? 
A. Necessarily so, by the demands of the service. 

Q. Which is the "back" head of a locomotive cylinder? 

A. There is no such thing. There is a "crank" end, and an 
"out" end of both a locomotive and a stationary engine cylin- 
der. The use of the terms "back" and "front" on either are 
confusing, particularly in the case of a locomotive. 

Q. How may the general features for a modern locomotive 
be summed up? 

A. As reasonable first cost ; maximum efficiency for the serv- 
ice, within track, weight, and clearance requirements ; the great- 
est proportion of adhesive weight to total ; capacity to handle 
the heaviest gross tonnage practicable, at the highest desired 
speed; greatest permissible distance between coal, water, or 
power stations ; economy as regards maintenance and fuel and 
water consumption ; substantial construction of the least num- 
ber of parts ; and capacity to perform continuous service with- 
out liability of failure. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 




CO 



?ig. 3- Cross Section, Pennsylvania R. R. Engine, Class " O. 



CHAPTER II. 

CLASSIFICATION. 

0. How may we classify locomotive engines? 

A. As regards ( I ) ^ cylinder distribution (two, three, and 
four cylinders), (2) wheel arrangement (eight-wdieeler, 
Mogul, consolidation, etc.), (3) number of expansion stages 
(compound and non-compound), (4) service, etc. 

Q. Considered in relation to the service for which they are 
intended, zvhat are the classes of locomotives ? 

A. Passenger, freight, switching, elevated railway and 
suburban, and mining. 

Q. What character of engine is required for passenger 
traffic? 

A. Comparatively large drivers, giving high engine-speed 
compared with the piston-speed. 

Q. What character of engine is needed for freight service? 
A. Comparatively small driving-wheel diameter, as to give 
the crank greater leverage for a given piston-stroke. 

Q. What character of engines is required for work in large 
cities? 

A. For hauling freight trains, small drivers, great tractive 
power, and short wheel-base ; while there is not much boiler- 
capacity needed for the slow speeds. For passenger service, 
light engines that do not require great boiler-power by reason 
of their comparative speed. For both, those which make but 
little noise. 

Q. What character of engine is required for suburban 
business? 

A. Those that can start heavy trains and run them at high 



CLASSIFICATION. 



19 



tR*~ 




o 
> 






20 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

speeds ; and usually it is well for them to be double-enders or 
to have valve-gear, etc., permitting them to be run equally well 
in either motion. 

Q. What classes of engine, as regards wheel-base, are most 
used for passenger service? 

A. In America, the eight- wheel (usually known as the 
American) type, having at the back two pairs of driving-axles 
coupled, and in front a four-wheeled swiveling truck. (This 
is, however, likely to be driven out by the Atlantic type, having 
one of the truck wheel pairs at the rear.) 

Q. What is the wheel arrangement in such engines? 

A. Usually with one pair of drivers back of the fire-box and 
the other in front; but in the Wootten engine, with wide fire- 
box, both pairs are under the fire-box. 

Q. What proportions of American engines are used in pas- 
senger service? 

A. From ten to twenty-five per cent. 

Q. For a 70-ton freight train on a good road, with plenty 
of grades, but none over 50 feet in the mile or say 1 in 100, 
what engine might be selected? 

A. Say an 18-inch x 26-inch with 62-inch wheel centers, and 
weighing about 65 net tons; pressure about 180; traction at 
slow speed about ten tons. 

Q. What is the reason for having the fire-box over both 
pairs of drivers? 

A. To get a very wide and long grate. 

Q. What arrangement of engine is desirable for local pas- 
senger service only? 

A. One type is double-ended ; has four wheels coupled, and 
a pony truck at each end, with saddle tank. Another type is 
also double-ended, but instead of a saddle tank has a back tank ; 
there being a four-wheeled truck under the tank, and a pony 
truck in front. 



CLASSIFICATION. 



21 



Q. What class of engine is suitable for express passenger 
service? 

A. First of all, the American or eight-wheeled type, having 




Fig. 5. Express Passenger Engine, American Type 




Fig. 6. Express Passenger Engine, with Pony Truck. 

two pairs of drivers coupled, and a four-wheeled truck in 
front, as in Fig. 5 ; then a modification of this has also four 
wheels coupled, but instead of a four-wheeled truck in front 
there is a pony truck there and another in the rear, as shown 
in Fig. 6 (Atlantic type). 

Q. In deciding upon the best type of locomotive for a given 
service, zt'hat points must be taken into consideration ? 

A. Train weight, speed, grades, curvature, frequency of 
stops, smooth operation, and low cost of repairs. 

Q. What is desirable in relation to smooth operation and 
low repair cost? 

A. The fewest possible driving wheels that will give good 
starting power. 



22 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

0. Of zvhat is the Atlantic or 4-4-2 type the outcome? 

A. Of the demand for a locomotive combining large heating 
surface and grate area with large driving wheels, to meet con- 
ditions which could not be met by the so-called "American'* 
or 4-4-0 type. 

0. For what class of fuel is the Atlantic type specially 
suited? 

A. For bituminous coal. 

Q. In what other particular is the Atlantic type favorable? 

A. Good water circulation. 

Q. For zvhat class of trains is the Atlantic the ideal type? 

A. For those of moderate weight, especially with relatively 
long runs with infrequent stops. 

Q. What is the proportion of weight on drivers of the At- 
lantic type to the total zveight? 

A. About 55 per cent. 

Q. In what special particular does this type shozv a high 
ratio? 

A. Pounds of total weight per square foot of heating sur- 
face ; the weight here being minimum. 

Q. What is a further development of the Atlantic or 2-4-2 
type? 

A. The Pacific or 2-6-2. 

Q. For what class of service is this type best adapted? 

A. To meet the exactions of the heaviest passenger service — 
as for instance trains of 500 to 600 tons weight, where the cars 
are to be heated and lighted from the locomotive. 

Q. How large do the grate areas run? 

A. From 40 to 50 square feet. 

Q. What is the average proportion of total weight on drivers 
in this class? 

A. 60 per cent. 

Q. What kinds of trailing trucks have the Pacific type? 



CLASSIFICATION. 



23 



A. Two, with inside and with outside bearings. 

0. Of these two, which is the more simple and the lighter. 7 

A. The inside bearing style. 

0. What is the special advantage of the outside bearing 
type? 

A. A wide supporting base at the rear of the locomotive, 
giving good riding qualities. Further, the brake hangers for 
the trailing wheels may be attached to the truck frame, so 
that they move with the wheels on curves. Outside bearings 
also have the advantage that they are readily accessible for 
lubrication, examination and renewal of packing, and for such 
repairs as the renewal of springs and journal bearings. 

0. For metropolitan and suburban traffic zvhat is the most 
frequently used type of engine? 

A. The regular American eight- wheel ; but there are a good 
many that have only a two- wheel ("pony") or Bissell truck in 
front of the cylinders, to put more weight on the drivers. 

Q. Where are the zvater and fuel often carried on engines 
for city and suburban traffic? 

A. On an extension of the frames, back of the fire-box, and. 
borne by a pony truck. (See Fig. 7.) 




Fig. 7. Switching and Local Passenger Service, with Back Tank. 
Modified Forney Type. 

Q. What name is given to this latter type? 
A. Forney, from its inventor. 

Q. What is the principal type of engine used for freight?- 
A. In this country, the eight-wheel type is doing most of 
the work in this line too, but where specially intended for this 



24 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

traffic they usually have smaller drivers than for passenger 
work. 

Q. For heavier freight service, where greater tractive power 
is desired than can be had with only two driver pairs, what 
arrangement is made? 

A. More drivers are added, as in (i) the Mogul (Fig. 8), 
in which there are three pairs of drivers and a pony or two- 
wheel truck; (2) the consolidation, in which there are four 
pairs of drivers and a two- wheel truck (Fig. 9) ; (3) the ten- 
wheeler, in which there are three pairs of drivers and a four- 
wheel truck (Fig. 10) ; (4) the twelve- wheeler, in which 
there are four pairs of drivers and a four-wheel truck; and 
(5) the decapod, in which there are five pairs of drivers and 
a two- wheel truck. (Fig. 11.) 

Q. For what class of service is the Mogul or 2-6-0 type 
adapted? 

A. For freight service on comparatively level roads ; or on 
heavy rails, where a large load per axle is permissible, and 
even for comparatively fast freight service. 

Q. What proportion of the total weight of the Mogul is on 
the drivers? 

A. Averaging 80 to 85 per cent. 

Q. What about its boiler capacity? 

A. There may be provided sufficient for moderate speeds ; 
and wide grates may be used because of the usually chosen 
small drivers. 

Q. How is depth of throat sheet secured? 

A. By sloping the fire-box down at the front end between 
the second and the third pair of drivers. 

Q. What class of engine is best adapted for fast freight? 

A. The ten-wheeler is coming into great favor for this pur- 
pose; having six wheels coupled and a four-wheeled truck, as 
shown in Fig. 10, page 27. 



CLASSIFICATION. 



25 



Q. For what other class of traffic is the "ten-wheel" or 
4-6-0 type adapted ? 

A. For heavy and fast passenger service ; requiring a tract- 




Fig. 8. Mogul Freight Engine with Tender 

ive power that six wheels alone can give without overloading 
the fish plates and does not require too much steam. Hav- 
ing great hauling capacity in proportion to the total weight, 




Fig. 9. Consolidation Engine for Heavy Freight. 



it is a good type for passenger service, not calling for sus- 
tained high speed. It is also good for freight trains of mod- 
erate weight and high speed, having more speed than the 
2-8-0 or Consolidation type. 

Q. With what sized drivers is it best adapted as an "all- 
around" engine for passenger and fast freight service? 

A. About 63 to 69 inches. 



36 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

0. What is the limitation of this type in passenger service? 

A. The driver diameter, as where the drivers are over 73 
inches the fire-box may not be extended laterally over the rear 
drivers. 

Q. How may the throat sheet be given sufficient depth with 
this type, where the drivers are, say, 69 inches in diameter? 

A. By sloping the mud ring downward toward the front 
end of the engine, between the second and third driver pairs. 

0. For what class of fuel is it a favorite? 
A. Anthracite. 

Q. What complaint is sometimes made of "ten-wheelers"? 
A. That they are easily derailed. 

Q. Is this complaint justified? 

A. Only this far, that the fault is as much that of the track 
as of the engine. Where the rigid wheel base is long, the track 
must have easier curves, or a wider gage on curves, or the 
train must go more slowly around curves than where the rigid 
wheel base is short. Either the track must be made to conform 
to the new conditions of long rigid wheel base, or the speed 
must be reduced on curves. 

0. For heavy freight what seem to be the best adapted types 
of engine in America? 

A. (1) The consolidation, having eight, wheels coupled and 
a pony truck in front as shown in Fig. 9, and (2) the decapod, 
having ten wheels coupled and a pony truck, as shown in 
Fig. 11. 

Q. For what service is the consolidation or 2-8-0 type espe- 
cially suited? 

A. For freight service requiring high starting power, as it 
has a large proportion of the weight on the driving wheels, 
and permits, by reason of large cylinders and comparatively 
large drivers, starting heavy trains and working steep grades. 



CLASSIFICATION. 



27 



Where desired, the fire-box may be extended laterally over 
the rear drivers. 

0. What proportion of the total weight may be on the 
drivers? 

A. From 85 per cent to even as high as 90 ; although this 
latter is rare. 

0. How may the front fire-box end be given sufficient 
depth? 

A. By sloping it downward toward the front of the engine, 
ending between the third and fourth driver pairs, below their 
tops. 

Q. What is the difference, as regards the wheel-base and 
weight distribution, between the Mogul and the ten-wheeler? 

A. In the Mogul the front drivers are nearly as far from 
the main or middle driver as the back drivers are ; in the 
ten- wheeler, Fig. 10, by reason of the back truck- wheels, which 




Fig. 10. Ten-wheeler for Fast Freight 

are in the rear of the cylinders, the front drivers are quite clo^e 
to the middle pair, and thus get proportionately less weight. 

Q. What is the advantage of increasing the number of 
drivers? 

A. It enables adding to the engine weight, which gives 
traction, without putting so much load on any one pair of 
drivers as to wear the rail unnecessarily or to be injurious to 
rail- joints. 



28 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. Is the Mogul engine ever used for passenger service? 
A. Yes, but it is usually restricted to freight work. 

Q. What is the general make-up of switching-engines? 
A. They usually have two or three driver pairs, short wheel- 
base and no truck, if for switching only, and seldom have 




Fig. ii. " Decapod " for Heavy Freight. 

tenders, the fuel and water being carried on the engine ; if they 
do, the tenders have instead of two trucks, only two wheel 
pairs. Such an engine with three pairs of drivers may be seen 
in Fig, 1 6. 




Fig. 12. Engine for Switching and Local Service, with Back 
Tank. (Forney Type.) 

Q. What class of engines is desirable for both switching and 
local service? 

A. There are several types. One has two pairs of drivers 
coupled, and a back tank, with a four-wheeled truck under it ; 
this being the Forney type. (Fig. 12.) Another has two pairs 



CLASSIFICATION. 



29 



of wheels coupled, and a pony truck in front, with a four-wheel 
tender, as in Fig. 15. A third is of the Forney type, that is, 
with a back tank supported on its own wheels borne by the 
engine-frame; but there is only one pair of such wheels, as 




Fig. 13. Switching Engine, Saddle Tank. 

shown in Fig. 7. A fourth class has four wheels coupled, and 
a back tank ; this being a double-ender and having a pony 
truck under the tank and another in front, besides two pilots. 
(Fig. 14.) A fifth class has four wheels coupled, a pony 
truck in front,- and a saddle tank, as shown in Fig. 13. A sixth 
type, for very heavy switching, has six wheels coupled, a saddle 
tank, and no truck. 




Fig. 14. Switching and Local Passenger Engine. 

Q. What class of engine is suitable for heavy switching and 
local freight? 

A. The double-ended saddle-tank engine having six w T heels 
coupled and a pony truck in the rear, as last mentioned, as 
used for light switching, etc. ; or a double-ended engine with 
back tank borne on a four-wheel truck, and having six wheels 



30 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



coupled. A third class is a double-ender, with both a saddle 
tank and a back tender, the latter being borne by a four-wheel 
truck, there being six wheels coupled. (See Fig. 16.) 

Q. Why are all the wheels of switching-engines drivers? 




Fig. 15. Switching Engine, with Four-wheeled Tender. 

A. In order to utilize for tractive purposes every pound of 
weight of the comparatively light machine. 

Q. Why are its fuel and water born s e by the switching-engine 
instead of carried in a tender? 

A. To increase traction for a given amount of dead weight ; 
also because it shortens the train. 

Q. What may be said of the wheel-bases of switching- 
en pines? 




Fig. 16. Heavy Switching and Local Freight Engine, with Saddle 
Tank and Back Tank. 

A. They are usually very short, to enable the engines to pass 
over curves and sharp switch-angles. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of short wheel-base? 



CLASSIFICATION. 



31 



A. The pitching or see-saw motion which it gives the en- 
gines. 

Q. How may this be remedied/ 

A. By a single pair of truck-wheels at one end. 

Q. What elass of engines is needed for mining purposes? 

A. Very low, with excessively short stacks ; and with water- 




Fig. 17. Heavy Switching Engine, Six Wheels Coupled, with 
Tender. 



supply borne by tanks saddling the boiler or otherwise borne 
by the engine itself ; the fuel also being carried thereon. 

Q. What is one advantage of the six-vjheel outside-con- 
neeted type of engine, especially for mine work, or where there 
is much tunneling and bridging? 

A. By reason of its greater length, the boiler-diameter may 
be reduced for a given weight of engine and size of cylinders, 
as compared with four-wheel-connected engines of the same 
power ; thus enabling reduction of hight and width, without 
reducing power. 

Q. What is a so-called electric locomotive? 

A. A self-propelled traction vehicle, running on rails and 
having one or more electric motors that drive its wheels and 
thereby propel the entire machine and enable it to haul cars. 



32 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM B 



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Fig. 18. Wheel Base Types. 



CLASSIFICATION. 



33 




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Fig. 19. Wheel Base Types. 



34 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

The motors usually are supplied with electrical current either 
from a continuous rail laid near to, but insulated from the 
track rails, or from a wire suspended above the track length- 
wise thereto, contact with the wire being made by a trolley or 
wheel on the end of a pole mounted on top of the locomotive. 
The electric current rail, called a third-rail, or the overhead 
trolley wire, as the case may be, is supplied with current by 
electric generators in a so-called central station and which 
are driven by steam or gas engines, or by water wheels. From 
the trolley or the third-rail shoe, electricity is conducted to a 
regulator or controller by which the motors may be started, 
stopped, or driven at any desired speed within their limits. 
Electric locomotives are built either with motors mounted 
so as to drive the axles indirectly through gear w T heels, or 
with the motor armature directly on the axle ; in w T hich latter 
case the motor is said to be gearless. 

The tension at which electric locomotives are operated is 
500 to 650 volts for direct current; from 1,800 to 3,000 volts 
for alternating current. In this case there is a transformer on 
the locomotive to reduce the voltage from that of the trolley 
wire to one suitable for the motors. 

Electric locomotives may be built with every axle directly 
driven by its own motor, thus making the total weight avail- 
able for adhesion and traction. In addition, two or more such 
locomotives may be coupled and their motors and controllers 
so connected electrically that, all may be operated by the con- 
troller of any one. Electric locomotives are also built to be 
operated by storage batteries or accumulators ; but this 
arrangement is practicable only for yard or switching work, 
where the battery can be conveniently recharged from an elec- 
tric central station. 

Q. Describe the Mallet articulated locomotive? 
A. The drivers are in two groups of two, three, or four wheel 
pairs each. The rear group is carried by the main engine 



CLASSIFICATION. 




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36 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 




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CLASSIFICATION. 




38 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

frame, and driven by two H. P.* cylinders; the forward 
group is carried by a supplementary frame and driven by a 
pair of L. P.f cylinders; the frame and wheels of the L. P. 
engine constituting a swiveling truck supporting the front 
boiler end. The object is to obtain great weight and power, 
with a short rigid wheel-base to permit rounding sharp curves. 

Q. What are the peculiar features of the Mallet articulated 
compound locomotive, shown in Figs. 20 to 26? 

A. At the time of building it was the heaviest locomotive 
ever built, weighing in working order 410,000 pounds, and 
having flues 21 feet long. The rear four driver pairs are car- 
ried in frames rigidly attached to the boiler ; to these, and to 
the boiler as well, are attached the cylinders. The forward 
four driver pairs are, however, carried in a truck, which 
swivels radially from a center pin, located just in advance of 
the high-pressure cylinder saddle. (Fig. 21.) The weight of 
the forward end of the boiler is transmitted to the forward 
truck and drivers by sliding bearings (Fig. 20) between the 
third and fourth driver pairs. To secure proper weight dis- 
tribution, the back ends of the front frames are connected 
with the front ends of the rear frames by vertical bolts having 
a universal motion, top and bottom, permitting play between 
front and rear frames. The cylinders are attached to the 
truck frames. The steam dome is located back of the high- 
pressure cylinders, steam being led from the dome through 
a dry pipe forward to the outside steam pipes, and through 
these to the high-pressure steam chests. The steam passes 
from the high-pressure cylinders through a jointed pipe be- 
tween the frames to the low-pressure cylinders, whence it is 
exhausted by a jointed pipe through the stack. The high- 
pressure cylinders have piston valves, the low-pressure, slides. 

* H. P. stands in this connection for high pressure, throughout this 
book. 

f L. P. stands in this connection for low pressure, throughout this 
work. 



CLASSIFICATION. 39 

Q. What is a rack locomotive? 

A. One for climbing grades too steep for good adhesion. 
It runs on rails as other locomotives, and while on moderate 
grades the driving wheel adhesion is sufficient, on the steepest 
grades there is a .rack raif between the two running rails and 
with it engage gears keyed on the driving axle, thus giving a 
positive tractive effort. 

Q. Hoze are rack locomotives prevented from running an*ay 
dozen grade? 

A. They have powerful air, hand, and water brakes. 

Q. What is the purpose of freight helper locomotives? 

A. Increasing the capacity of an up-grade or a heavily 
taxed track, balancing the power on the division, reducing the 
number of locomotives and crews required to handle heavy 
freight tonnage over a busy, mountainous district. 

0. What are the prime requisites of a steam locomotive for 
freight helper service? 

A. Maximum adhesion for tractive and braking power, min- 
imum rail pressure per driving wheel, and short rigid, com- 
bined with a long flexible, driving-wheel base, to adapt it to a 
mountain line having considerable curvature and gradient. 

Q. To accomplish this, what solution is adopted? 

A. Americanizing foreign railroad practice by making use 
of the Mallet articulated feature, which permits of the use of a 
maximum effective wheel base, with materially reduced rigid 
wheel base, and provides for developing an average through- 
freight train speed without excessive wear. Subdividing the 
power through the use of four independent cylinders, pistons, 
main rods, crank pins and frames, in place of two, and better 
balancing of the reciprocating parts, result in less strain on 
all parts, and reduce the liability for breakage and failure. 



CHAPTER III. 
THE BOILER AND ACCESSORIES. 

Q. What is the most important part of a locomotive? 

A. The boiler. 

0. What are its essential parts? 

A. They are usually six (sometimes seven) in number; 
cylinder, main shell, or barrel, waist (in many cases), shell or 
outer fire-box, dome, inner fire-box or fire-box proper, tubes 
or flues, combustion chamber, smoke-box or arch, and stack 
or chimney. 

Q. What materials are used? 

A. Wrought iron and mild steel ; the latter now coming into 
use to the exclusion of the former. 

Q. What are the advantages of soft steel for locomotive 
boiler construction? 

A. Great tensile and compressive strength, ductility, and 
uniformity of structure; thus enabling a boiler to stand more 
pressure for given weight, or to be lighter for given 
pressure. 

Q. What is the peculiarity of the locomotive boiler, as dis- 
tinguished from the stationary? 

A. In having but one shell for both furnace and boiler. 

Q. How arc locomotive boilers classified? 

A. By their shape, as "straight top," having the cylindrical 
shell of uniform diameter from the fire-box to the smoke- 
box ; as "wagon top," having a conical or sloping course of 
plates next to the fire-box, tapering to the cylindrical courses; 
"extended wagon top," having one or more cylindrical courses 
between the fire-box and the sloping course which tapers to 
the main shell diameter. They are further classified as "wide 
fire-box," "narrow fire-box," Belpaire, Wootten, etc. 



THE BOILER. 41 

Q. Describe a locomotive boiler and explain the use of its 
Tar ions parts? 

A. The locomotive boiler is usually in form a cylindrical 
shell jointed to a rectangular one, the rear or rectangular 
end containing the fire-box, usually also of rectangular shape 
to conform to the shape of the outer shell. The fire-box 
is supported at the bottom by the mud ring, or founda- 
tion ring, and at the sides, front, and back by stay-bolts 
screwed through the outside sheets and fire-box sheets, and 
hammered over. The space between the fire-box and outer 
boiler sheets varies from 3 to 9 inches. The fire-box roof 
or crown sheet is supported by crown bars in some forms of 
boilers, and radial stays (long stay-bolts) in other types. To 
each side sheet near the bottom are bolted the grate rests, 
which support the grates. The fire-box is entirely surrounded 
by and covered with water, and forms the most efficient heating 
surface in the boiler. The cylindrical part of the boiler to 
which the fire-box end is jointed contains the tubes, or flues, 
which vary in number according to the size of the boiler. 
They are usually in locomotive practice from 2 to 2* -4 inches 
in diameter. These are also surrounded by water and form 
the greater part of the heating surface, all the hot combustion 
gases distilled passing through them. 

To the upper part of the boiler, and usually ahead of the 
fire-box, is riveted the cylindrical dome, which is a storage 
reservoir for the steam generated. Its object is to obtain drier 
steam. It also contains the throttle and stand-pipe connecting 
to the dry pipe, used to convey the steam from the boiler to 
the cylinders. 

Riveted to and forming an extension of the cylindrical part 
of the boiler is the smoke arch, to which the cylinder saddles 
are bolted, and which also contains the steam pipes that con- 
vey the steam from the dry-pipe to the cylinders, the exhaust 
nozzle, through which the steam escapes to the stack, the dia- 



42 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

phragm sheets, the petticoat pipe or draft pipe, used to regu- 
late the draft on the fire, and a netting to prevent spark- 
throwing. At the top of the smoke arch is the smoke stack, 
while at the bottom in some types is a hopper for the discharge 
of the sparks that may accumulate in the front end. 

Under the fire-box is bolted the ash-pan (to catch the ashes), 
either or both ends of which are fitted with a damper to prevent 
ashes or coals from falling out, and to regulate the admission 
or air to the fire-box. 

Q. What are the chief requirements of a boiler? 

A. That it shall be strong enough in all parts to stand the 
maximum pressure which will be put on it; deliver steam 
enough for the cylinders under maximum duty ; be economical 
of fuel, and able to use various sorts of fuel advantageously; 
be readily inspected and readily and cheaply repaired; shall 
not foul, and not be readily lessened in steaming power by 
scale. 

Q. What is an extended wagon-top boiler? 

A. A locomotive boiler having a shell made of one or more 
cylindrical plate courses next to the fire-box, a conical course 
tapering down to smaller diameter, and one or more adjoining 
cylindrical courses of reduced diameter next to the smoke- 
box. 

Q. Why put the cylindrical course next to the fire-box? 

A. To provide a place for the steam dome, thus doing away 
with crown-bar staying over the crown-sheet as in an ordinary 
wagon-top boiler. 

THE SHELL. 

Q. What name is given to the cylindrical part of a loco- 
motive boiler? 

A. The waist or barrel. 

Q. What about the diameter of straight boiler-shells as com- 
pared with those of the wagon-top type? 



THE BOILER. 43 

A. With the straight shell the waist is about two inches 
greater in diameter than with the wagon-top, for a given steam- 
space and water-room. 

Q. This being the case, which type gives, with an equal 
number of Hues, the more circulation-room for zcater between 
Hues? 

A. The straight shell type, by reason of its larger diameter. 

Q. What is another advantage of the straight shell? 
A. It is stronger than where there is a wagon-top. 

Q. How many pounds per square inch should good steel 
boiler-plates stand? 

A. 60,000 pounds per square inch of cross-section, length- 
wise with the fiber; 54,000 across. 

Q. To how much of this pressure is it proper to subject a 
steel boiler in use? 

A. To about one-fifth, so that any strains which may be 
applied to it will not make it permanently stretch or otherwise 
change its form or dimensions. 

Q. What is the strength of wrought-iron boiler-plate as com- 
pared zcith mild steel? 
A. About one-sixth less. 

Q. What is the test of a good wrought-iron or steel boiler- 
plate, stay or rivet? 

A. It should stand not less than 50,000 pounds per square 
inch of cross-section without breaking, and stretch about one- 
eighth of its length before breaking ; if not over an inch thick 
should be capable of being bent double when hot, without 
cracking. If under one-half inch it should be capable of being 
bent double w r hen cold, without cracking. A hot rivet-shank 
when flattened to half its diameter should stand having a hole 
punched through it without tearing at the hole, 

Q. Of it'hat kind of steel should rivets be made? 



44 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. Of the very softest or mildest, to lessen the danger of 
their getting hard and brittle in working and in use. 

Q. What is the reason that metal of the highest tensile 
strength is not desirable for steel boiler-plates and rivets? 

A. It is apt to be hard and brittle, and the soft ductile metal 
is safest for such work. 

Q. How strong is a rivet-S£am between two plates of equal 
thickness and strength, as compared with the plates which it 
fastens together? 

A. That depends on the diameter, quality, spacing, and 
arrangement of the rivets. 

Q. How should rivet-holes be made? 

A. The best way, in steel plates, is to punch them smaller 
than desired and then ream or drill them to the required size ; 
as this gives smoother walls and also cripples the fibers less, in 
the vicinity of the walls. 

Q. How is a single-riveted lap-welded boiler-seam liable to 
give away? 

A. (i) By the plate tearing away between the rivet and the 
edge of the plate; (2) by the plate splitting between the hole 
and plate edge, or (3) by the rivet itself being sheared off. 

Q. To what does the first method of giving way point? 
A. To the desirability of having the rivet-holes not too close 
to the sheet edge. 

Q. Which is it desirable to have the stronger: the rivets, or 
the plates between the holes? 

A. The plates, by reason of their being liable to be strained 
in punching and otherwise working. 

Q. Which is of the most importance in riveting boiler-work: 
strength of seam, or tightness? 

A. Tightness ; because no matter how strong the seam may 
be originally, if not tight it will lose strength by corrosion. 



THE BOILER. 45 

Q. Which are stronger in single-riveted lap-seams: a large 
number of rivets close together, or a smaller number further 
apart? 

A. The smaller number further apart. 

Q. What limits the possibility in this direction? 
A. We run into the difficulty of not having the seams tight, 
and our strong seams would soon become weak. 

0. What would be another way of increasing the strength of 
a boiler-seam? 

A. By drilling the rivet-holes, or by punching them too small 
and reaming them or re-drilling them. 

Q. What special advantage is there in drilling rivet-holes or 
in punching them too small and then enlarging v:ith a reamer? 

A. In punching, the holes in each plate must be made sepa- 
rately, and there is some difficulty in making the distance 
between .them exactly the same ; but in drilling or in reaming, 
the two plates may be worked at the same time, to insure 
absolute equality of spacing. Also, there is more likelihood 
of the rivets filling and fitting drilled or reamed than punched 
holes. 

Q. As against this, zvhat is the advantage of punched holes? 

A. They are always slightly hour-glassing, and for this 
reason, if put with their small ends together, the rivet may 
be given a slight dovetail effect, increasing its strength against 
certain strains. 

Q. What sets the limit to wide spacing of rivets? 

A. The fact that the shearing strength of the rivet increases 
as the square of its diameter, the crushing strength of the 
metal only in direct proportion to the diameter of the rivet 
pressing on it. 

0. What is the largest diameter of rivet which can be used 
in Y^-inch plates? 

A. Seven-eighths of an inch. 



46 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What would be the strongest seam that we could get 
with a single row of %-inch iron rivets in Y%-inch iron plates? 

A. One and three-quarter inches between rivet-edges, or 
2^/i between rivet-centers. 

Q. Hozv are boiler-seams made tight, besides being drawn 
together by the contraction of the rivets when they cool? 

A. By what is miscalled calking ; the metal on the edge being 
driven down .against that below it, by a blunt chisel-like tool, 
and a hammer ; the plate-edges being in the best work planed 
off true and beveled before the plates are put together. 

Q. What is likely to happen if calking is done too vigor- 
ously? 

A. The plates are liable to be forced apart, between the rivet- 
line and their edges. 

Q. What is the best tool for calking boiler-seams? 
A. One having a rounded edge, making a concave track on 
the plate-edge. 

Q. What is the objection to a square-ended calking tool? 

A. It is likely to score the lower plate along the calking- 
edge, and make the plate liable to give way along the scored 
line. It is also more liable to force the plates apart than the 
round-ended tool. 

Q. How much strain, tending to open the lengthwise seams, 
is there on the barrel of a boiler 50 inches in diameter and 12 
feet long, where the steam pressure is 160 pounds? 

A. 50 x 12 x 12 x 160= 1,152,000 pounds. 

Q. What precaution should be taken in making a locomotive 
boiler shell, as to its curve? 

A. It should be to a true circle, else the tendency of the 
steam-pressure will be to make it of true circular section, and 
that would spring things out of shape, besides not doing the 
seams any good. 



THE BOILER. 47 

Q. Hozu are the flat ends of locomotive boilers kept from 
being bulged out or blown out by the pressure within? 

A. By either stay-rods or gusset stays (sheet stays) carrying 
to the cylindrical part some of the strain that is put on the flat 
part. The tubes also act as lengthwise stays. (See Fig. 30.) 

Q. What may be said about the strength of the crow's feet 
or other devices by which to attach a stay to a shell or head? 
A. They should be as strong as the stays themselves. 

Q. Hozu can allozcance be made for boiler expansion? 

A. By leaving space enough to slip a thickness of sheet-tin 
between the frame and the expansion plates and buckles. 
Where bolts pass through, cut the holes oblong about Y\ inch, 
and the same on the back boiler-brace holes. 

Q. What construction is better than expansion-plates and 
buckles? 

A. Two heavy cast-iron plates, one fastened to the boiler, 
the other to the frame, and keyed together. 

MODERN BOILERS. 

Q. What was the early tendency in boiler design? 

A. Toward shallow fire-boxes above the frames and having 
about 3^2 feet grate width, and length up to 10 feet. 

Q. What is the modem tendency? 

A. Toward grates 6 to 8 feet wide. 

Q. What does this involve? 

A. Putting the fire-box over some of the wheels^ — as in the 
Wootten type, where the boiler was also raised, but the grate 
often higher than the bottom tubes. 

Q. For what fuel zvas this satisfactory? 

A. Anthracite only. 

Q. What, other types have very zvide fire-boxes? 

A. The Atlantic and the Pacific. 



48 



LOGO MOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. For bituminous coal, what is the type now desired for 
engines weighing from J$ to ioo tons? 

A. Like the old ones, but with wider grate, as in Fig. 
27, with 3,000 square feet of heating surface. 

Q. What is the principal peculiarity of boilers for anthra- 
cite? 

A. Their large grate surface. 




Fig. 27. Showing Fire Box with Radial Sling Stays. 



Q. Have English engines as a general rule more or less heat- 
ing and grate-surface than American? 

A. Less. The Gladstone, on the L. B. and S. C. Railway, 
has only 1485 square feet of total heating surface and 20.65 
square feet of grate (with a ratio of 72 to 1). The maximum 
indicated horse-power of the Gladstone being 1,040, we have 
50.35 horse-power per square foot of grate, and 1.43 square 
feet of heating-surface per horse-power, or 0.7 horse-power 
per square foot of heating surface. 

Q. What is the evaporating capacity of an average American 
locomotive? 

A. From 3^2 to jy 2 gross tons of water per hour, for an 
engine weighing 40 tons and having two cylinders 18 inches 
in diameter and 24 inches stroke. 

Q. What is the average amount of coal required to 
evaporate 6 to 8 tons of water per hour in such an engine? 



THE FIRE-BOX. 49 

A. One ton per hour, as one pound of the usual run of coal 
will make from 6 to 8 pounds of steam with the boiler in 
average condition. 

THE FIRE-BOX. 

Q. Describe in a general way the construction of the fire- 
box? 

A. There is an inner and an outer shell, forming a double 
bottomless box of boiler-plate, and having in front, through 
both walls, a doorway closed by a furnace-door. The bottom 
is formed by the grate, upon which the fuel is placed, and 
below which is the ash-pan which receives the ashes that fall 
through the grate, and which is supplied with suitable dampers 
to regulate the amount of air admitted under the grate. The 
top of the fire-box inner wall is usually flat, and is called the 
crown-sheet ; the top of the outer shell or wall over this is 
sometimes convex, sometimes flat — usually the former. (See 
Figs. 27, 28, 29, 30, and 31). 

Q. What materials are used for fire-boxes? 

A. In this country, wrought iron, wrought steel, and Besse- 
mer steel ; in Europe, principally copper. 

Q. What is the advantage of copper f re-boxes? 

A. They let the heat pass through more readily than either 
iron or steel does. 

Q. Will the same tire-box do for all kinds of fuel? . 

A. Xo ; there should be a special design and construction 
for each kind of fuel. 

Q. What fire-box is usually employed for hard coal? 

A. One with a very thick grate, and having less provision 
for letting air in above the fire. 

Q. Describe the Milholland fire-box for hard coal? 

A. It is shown in Figs. 29 and 31. The furnace top slopes 
downward from the boiler barrel, and the crown-sheet is 



50 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 





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THE FIRE-BOX. 



51 



stayed with screw stays, except for a short distance back of 
the tube-plate; water grates, B, B, are used, as shown. 

Q. What fire-box is ordinarily used for bituminous or soft 
coal? 

A. Quite deep and rectangular, with vertical walls and a 
slightly sloping flat top ; the top of the box is flared out larger 
than the bottom, to permit the combustion gases to enter rows 
of tubes more nearly throughout the entire boiler-barrel width. 

Q. Why is it permissible, even necessary, 
to give a small deep fire-box for soft coal? 

A. Because the soft coal first burns into 
coke, which is spongy and easily broken 
up, and admits the air. 

Q. What is the objection to extending 
the fire-box too far lengthwise of the en- 
gine? 

A. It makes firing difficult. 

Q. What class of -fire-box is necessary 

for burning wood? 

A. One that is very deep. 

Q. What is the Wootten fire-box? 

A. A wide and shallow fire-box, with a ^ 

. Fig. 29. Milholland 

combustion-chamber, and a brick bridge Fire-box. 

across the fire-box end of this latter is 

above the frames, and extends over the rear driving-axle, 

Q. For what class of fuel is it especially desirable? 

A. Fine or buckwheat coal. 

Q. Where is it most used? 

A. On the Philadelphia and Reading road. 

Q. What is the Belpaire boiler? 

A. One having a fire-box with a flat crown-sheet joining 
the side sheets by a short curve, and having outside crown- 
sheet, and the upper part of the outer side sheets flat and 




52 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



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THE FIRE-BOX. 53 

parallel to those of the inner fire-box, and stayed by straight 
direct vertical and transverse horizontal stays, obviating the 
necessity of crown-bars to support and strengthen the crown- 
sheet. 



Fig. 31, Milholland Fire-box, P. & R. R. R. 

Q. What is the peculiarity of the Buchanan fire-box, and 
where is it used? 

A. It is used very largely on the X. Y. C. & H. R. R. R., 
and its peculiarity consists principally in a water-table, as 
shown in Figs. 32 and 33, inclining from the back plate down- 
ward to the tube-plate just below the bottom row of tubes, 
and dividing the box into an upper and a lower compartment. 
Through it there is a round opening about 18 inches in diame- 
ter, through which must pass all combustion gases, smoke and 
air, the intention being to cause them to mingle before they 
strike the tubes. There are four tubes in the front end and _ 
four in the back, just above the fire, to supply air above the 
grate. Each has a conical nozzle through which may be passed 
a. steam jet which will draw in an air current. 

Q. As regards repairs, which are the more economical, wide 
or narrozi' boxes? 



54 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. The narrow ones, especially in high-speed engines. 

Q. How is it as regards coal consumption, bctzueen wide and 
narrow five-boxes? 

A. On the C. M. & St. P. road, the engines with narrow 
fire-boxes use 17.45 pounds of coal per 100 ton-miles; those 
with wide ones 17.56. 

0. IV hat is the advantage of having the top of the wagon- 
top considerably higher than the boiler-barrel ? 

A. It gives more steam-room, and, by permitting the use of 




Figs. 32 and 33. Buchanan Fire-box, C. V. R. R. 

more tubes, allows more heating-surface than possible with 
the flush-top boiler; also there is more room for workmen 
inside over the crown-sheets. 

0. Why is the furnace-door sheet often sloped so as to 
make the furnace shorter , and the zvater-leg wider, at top than 
at bottom? 



THE FIRE-BOX. 55 

A. To give a sloping surface from which the steam may 
part more readily than from one which is vertical ; and to give 
more effective heating-surface. 

0. Is this principle applied to the side sheets; 7 

A. Sometimes. 

0. Why has the furnace door wider opening in the furnace 
than in the boiler-head? 

A. To give the fireman better chance to distribute the fuel. 

0. Where are removable stay-bolts for crown-bars .desir- 
able? 

A. In the row nearest the tube-plate. 

0. When do lire-boxes usually crack — while on the road or 
after a trip? 

A. Seldom on the road. 

0. To what docs this point? 

A. To the desirability of arranging, as the Pennsylvania 
Railroad does in some round-houses, stationary boilers with 
pipe connections for each stall, so that when an engine comes 
in and the fire is drawn, she is kept hot until ready to be fired 
up again. The same thing is done on the C, X. O. & T. 
P. R. R. 

Q. What is the Colburn or "Mother Hubbard" fire-box? 

A. A predecessor of the YVootten, from which it differs 
only in the absence of a combustion chamber. 

0. What is the advantage of having the fire-box between 
the axles? 

A. To get a deep box, as for soft coal. 

0. JVhat is the disadvantage of having the fire-box above 
the axles? 

A. It necessitates raising the entire boiler, and thus raising 
the center of gravity of the machine. 

0. Hozc is extra steam-room given without having to carry 
the water undesirably lozv? 



56 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 




Fi gs- 34, 35 and 36. Vanderbilt Fire-Box. 



THE FIRE-BOX. 



57 



[This Arrangement cf Heater and 
'Htilcg3 •will answer for any class 
jof Tank. Possibly outlet to burner 
pay have to be larger if it is neces 
! sary to make larger Burner fcr 
Mastodon 01 Consolidation Engines 




Oil Pipe to Burner 

Figs, 37 and 38. 



% Steam Hose 
Steam Heater Cjil 




Figs. 39 and 40. 
Oil-Burning Device. 



58 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. Very often by a "wagon-top," a part above the fire-box 
in which the outer shell is raised from half a foot to a foot 
and a half above the barrel proper; the parts of different 




Fig, 41. Nozzle for Oil Burner. 

diameter being connected by a tapering portion. The steam- 
dome is added for the same purpose. (See Fig. 30, page 52.) 

Q. Why does coal bank in a fire-box? 

A. Because the temperature is too low to ignite some 
portions of the fuel. 

Q. Describe the Vanderbilt fire-box? 

A. With reference to Figs. 34, 35, and 36 it will be seen 
that the inner fire-box is cylindrical and corrugated, and lies 
in an enlargement of the outer shell (this enlargement carry- 
ing the dome). Its axis is below that of the outer shell, to 
give steam room. At the rear it is riveted to the back boiler- 
head. The cleaning-hole through fire-box and outer shell is 
reinforced by a heavy ring, which takes part of the weight 
of the box. Thus it is free to expand forward, without strain- 
ing either itself or the outer shell. There is a fire-brick wall. 

Q. Describe an oil-burning device? 

A. As shown in Figs. 37, 38, 39, and 40, the grates are 
replaced by an inner pan, supporting side walls and arches, 



THE FIRE-BOX. 



59 







Figs. 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 and 47. 
Valves of Korting Smoke Consumer. 



and covered with fire- 
brick except at the air- 
inlets L and K. The 
walls run up to the height 
of the arch; the front wall 
being back of the flue 
sheet. Steam is admitted 
at A, oil at B, and air at C. 
Fig. 41, and also through L 
and K, Fig. 39. Soot is 
cut out of the tubes by sand 
drawn in with the blast. 

Q. Describe the Korting 
smoke consumer? 

A. It is for automatical- 
ly admitting extra air over 
the grate when the fire- 
door is opened. 

There is a double dis- 
tributing-valve A } a steam 
drum B, a jet blower C, a 
nozzle D, a connecting 
pipe E, a shut-off valve F, 
and the necessary connec- 
tions. The shut-off valve 
F being opened and the 
distributor A closed, steam 
passes from the boiler to 
this latter and no further. 
(Figs. 48 and 49.) When 
the door is opened, A auto- 
matically admits steam to 
the drum B, in amount de- 
pending on the time dur- 



60 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 




Fig. 48. Korting Smoke Consumer. 



THE FIRE-BOX. 



61 




,-_J-p[ __ | H Assi: 



Assistant Jet 




fe?g^ 



Fig. 49. Korting Smoke Consumer. 



62 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

ing which the door is open. Closing the door, communica- 
tion between drum and blower is opened by a second part of 
A between B and the jet blower; thus driving a blast into 
the fire-box. At first, when most air is required for the new 
fuel, the high-pressure steam in the drum drives in consider- 
able ; this diminishes gradually ; and the length of time during 
which this subsidiary supply continues may be regulated for 
a given steam pressure and a given length of time during 
which the fire door is open. But always the higher the steam 
pressure and the longer the door is open, the more air forced 
in. 

Every time the throttle is closed the regulating valve is half 
closed, as seen in Fig. 48, and steam passes to the drum and 
also to the blower. When the throttle is opened again the 
distributing valve is entirely closed and the blast kept up for a 
while to supply the place of the but slowly-occurring, exhaust 
puffs. ' • 

At the lower end of the valve A is a smaller one connected 
by a small pipe L with the blower. When the throttle is shut 
and A half open (Fig. 49) this is opened to serve as a blower. 
When necessary to slice the fire, etc., with open fire-door, the 
air jet can be turned aside. The distributing valve is then as 
seen in Figs. 42 to 47. 

Q. In what different zvays may fire-box sheets fail? 
A. Either by gradual failure, having a good many small 
cracks ; or by hidden failure or rupture. 

Q. In what direction are the small cracks, generally? 
A. Vertical. 

Q. Where are they most numerous? 

A. Radiating from the stay-bolts, and usually from one 
stay-bolt to another in the same vertical row ; seldom hori- 
zontally between stay bolts. 

Q. On which side are they? 



STAY-BOLTS. 63 

A. On the fire side, sometimes extending through the thick- 
ness of the sheet, first going through next to the stay bolts. 
Q. What condition usually accompanies such cracks? 
A. Corrugation. 

Q. In zt'hat part of the sheets does one not find the most 
cracks and corrugation? 

A. In the lower half. 

Q. In case of sudden failure or rupture, how do the sheets 
fail? 

A. Usually by a single crack or rupture from a foot to 
several feet long; sometimes from the mud ring to the crown 
sheet ; but ordinarily in the lower half of the sheet, upward 
from the mud ring or from a few inches above it, and always 
near the middle of the side sheet lengthwise. 



STAY-BOLTS. 

Q. What sort of strain is there on the fire-box? 

A. One tending to crush it in. 

Q. What resists the tendency to crush in the side sheets? 

A. To a very slight extent their own stiffness ; to a very 
great extent the stay-bolts, extending from the inside to the 
outside sheets. (See Fig. 50.) 

'Q. What arrangement should be made with stay-bolts or 
tic-bolts of fire-boxes? 

A. These should be tubular, or should have a small hole 
lengthwise in the outside end, extending beyond the plate, so 
that if the bolt breaks there will be a leak at the break, to 
give warning. 

Q. What purpose is served by the small hole drilled in the 
outer end of stay-bolts? 

A. If the bolt breaks or cracks in the water space, water 
rushes out at the hole and gives notice. 



64 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. How are these stay-bolts fastened? 

A. In some engines they are riveted over ; in others they 
are screwed in ; in some, both screwed and riveted. 

Q. Hozv should stay-bolts be fastened into the side sheets 
A. Their ends should be screwed in and then riveted over. 

Q. Suppose that a fire-box has on it a pressure of 160 
pounds per square inch, and that the stay-bolts are four inches 
between centers ; what will be the strain on each bolt? 

A. There will be 16 square inches held by each bolt, making 
2,560 pounds that the bolt will have to hold. 

Q. What is the object of riveting over the stay-bolt ends? 

A. To "make assurance doubly sure" ; because sometimes 
screw-threads strip, and again the bulging of the sheets from 
undue expansion will tend to open out the holes, leaving the 
entire strain on the bolt-heads. If there were no heads the 
bolts would then be useless. 

Q. What kind of stay-bolts are used in England for fire- 
box walls? 

A. Copper. 

Q. When a stay-bolt breaks, what takes the strain? 

A. The eight bolts nearest thereto. 

Q. How much is their strain thus increased? 

A. One-eighth each. 

Q. What is the principal cause of the strain on stay-bolts? 

A. The inner fire-box expands more than the outer. 

Q. What is their usual distance apart? 

A. About 4 inches between centers. 

Q. What may be said of stay-bolts as a cause of explosion? 

A. After low water and hot crowns they are the most usual 
causes of explosions. 

Q. Where do they usually break? 

A. Close to the outer sheet. 



STAY-BOLTS. 



65 




Tig. 50. Cross Section, Pennsylvania R. R. Engine, Class " O." 



66 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What rows show the most broken stay-bolts? 
A. The two or three upper ones along the sides, and the 
first six or eight toward the ends. 

Q. Which break the more readily, long stay-bolts or short 
ones? 

A. Short ones. 

Q. What is the best way to test stay-bolts? 
A. To drill a 3/16-inch hole, one inch deep, in the outer 
end ; they w T ill tell of themselves if they crack or break. 

Q. Should defective stay-bolts be plugged? 
A. No ; they should be replaced. 

Q. Will bad water be apt to cause a few stay-bolts to leak 
in one place? 

A. No. 

Q. Where zvill misuse of the blower or the damper be apt 
to cause the stay-bolts to leak? 

A. In the lower part of the box. 

Q. Other things being equal, will the side sheets and stay- 
bolts of a short fire-box, or those of a long one, give most 
trouble? 

A. Those of a short one. 

Q. Where do flexible stay-bolts do the most good? 

A. In the two upper corners of the throat and side sheets. 

Q. Where do flexible stay-bolts usually fail? 

A. At the outer joints. 

Q. Why is this? 

A. Perhaps by reason of the high temperature of the fire- 
box making the inner sheets more elastic; also because in 
most designs the outer sheet is materially thicker than the 
inner one. 

Q. How may flexible bolts be inspected? 

A. By removal of the cap. 



THE MUD-RING. 



67 



Q. What is the disadvantage of this? 

A. It often results in destroying the cap. 

Q. How may flexible bolts in the inside sheets and back 
head be inspected? 

A. By removing the lagging. 

Q. What is the principal difficulty with which the flexible 
stay-bolt has to contend? 

A. Incrustation. The deposit of solid -matter around the 
bolt and its parts will defeat the purpose of the flexible bolt, 
making it of little more value than a rigid one. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of the flexible bolt? 

A. The sleeve being larger than the bolt, weakens the sheet 
more. 

THE MUD-RING. 

Q. How are the bottom edges of the tire-box side sheets 
fastened? 

A. Usually there is a mud-ring, as thick as the water-leg, 
betw r een the inner and outer sheets ; rivets extend through 
outer sheet, mud-ring (a casting which is either solid or 
flanged), and inner sheet. 





Fig. 51. Solid Mud-Ring. Fig. 52. Flanged Mud-Ring. 

Q. What would be the result if a leg of the fire-box became 
filled with mud? 

A. The inner sheets would be burned in that portion thus 
filled. 



6S 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



0. Is there any other way of making the joint than by a 
mud-ring? 

A. Instead of the solid mud-ring as in Fig. 51, there may 
be a boiler-plate ring flanged over so as to have a section as 
in Fig. 52, with both the inner and the outer sheets riveted 
thereto. 

Q. What other name is given to the mud-ring? 

A. The foundation-ring. 

THE FIRE DOOR. 

Q. What is the most- usual type of fire-box door? 

A. Simply a plain flap hinged on the left, outside the door- 




Fig. 53. Hudson Furnace-door Deflector. 

way, and having a chain by which to raise its latch and 
swing it. 



THE FIRE DOOR. 



69 



Q. What is the objection to this type? 

A. When it is opened, cold air rushes into the flues and 

causes imperfect combustion and visible smoke, besides 
cracking plates. 

Q. Hozv is tli is remedied? 

A. In part by placing an inverted shovel at an angle inside, 
so as to throw the air current downwards on the fuel instead 
of letting it go through the flues ; still more thoroughly by a 
sheet-iron deflecting plate inside of the box and hinged at its 




Fig. 54. Hudson Furnace-door Deflector. 

upper edge, with a contrivance by which it may be thrown up 
when the coal is to be laid. 

Q. Describe the Hudson furnace-door deflector? 

A. It is shown in Figs. 53 and 54. D is a deflector hung 



70 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

from a hook H attached to the fire-box over the door ; a lever 
L is fastened to the deflector, by which to move it out of the 
way when coal is thrown on. The deflector position is regu- 
lated by the lever and a latch L at its upper end. A pair of 
sliding doors is usually employed. 

Q. Name some other types of fire-door? 

A. Some types of doors are made to slide, and are moved 
by a lever or handle. Swinging doors have a handle and a 
chain fastened to the boiler-head for convenience in opening 
and closing. There is a catch or notched rod, on various 
points of which the door handle may be set, to regulate the 
amount of air admitted above the fire. Some doors are 
operated by a rod moved by the piston of a small air cylinder, 
the valve of which has a foot lever, by which the fireman 
opens and closes the door. 

THE BLOWER. 

Q. Hoiv can the lire be urged when the engine is not run- 
ning and there is no exhaust blast? 

A. By a steam jet sent up the stack from a pipe connected 
with the steam-space and controlled by the blower-cock.. Also, 
in some engines, as on the New York Central Railroad, there 
are steam and air jets in the fire-box above the grate. 

Q. Hozv does the blozver act? 

A. It directs a jet of live steam up the stack, causing, by 
friction between that jet and the surrounding air in the stack, 
an air current to pass through the tubes to supply the 
deficiency. 

Q. When should the blower be used? 

A. In starting a fire; in clearing out dust and ashes in 
cleaning fire; in preventing black smoke at times; in enabling 
certain inside repairs to be made while the fire is burning. 

Q. When should the blower not be used? 



THE ASH-PAN DAMPERS. 71 

A. When the fire is drawn or dead, as that would draw 
cold air into the hot tubes and make them leak. 

Q. Where is a good place to put the blower discharge? 
A. Around the top of the exhaust-pipe. 

THE ASH-PAX DAMPERS. 

Q. What arc the chief uses of the dampers? 

A. To prevent cinders and burning coals being dropped 
where not desirable, and to enable the draft to be completely 
checked when doors or dampers are closed. 

0. Hozu are the ash-pan dampers z^orked? 

A. By a bell-crank and rod communicating with a handle 
in the cab. 

0. Why is it necessary to have the dampers on a wood- 
burning locomotive sliut air-tight, while on a coal burner the 
dampers are not tight and some of them cannot be closed? 

A. Wood requires so little air to keep it burning, and a 
wood fire is so open, that air will readily pass up through it 
and keep it burning so freely when engine is shut off, that the 
dampers must be air-tight to control the fire. With coal a 
strong draft is required to burn it ; so the natural draft does 
not have the same effect on a coal fire. If the fire is thick, very 
little air will draw up through it. However, it is a mistake 
to allow the dampers and ash-pan to be so open that the 
draft cannot be controlled, especially with free-burning coal. 
Some little air is said to be needed constantly to keep the 
grates cool with a thin fire. This is a matter on which there 
is a. difference of opinion. English engines have very tight 
ash-pans and dampers. They find it pays to keep them so. 

Q. What is the effect of z^orking a long distance with closed 
dampers? 

A. To warp ash-pan and dampers. 

Q. What is the Hale ash-pan? 



7:: LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. A device on the bottom of the ash-pan hopper, consisting 
of a lever or hanger, pivoted at its upper end to a frame or 
bracket, and fastened at its lower end to the hopper bottom. 
When the hopper is closed the upper end of the hanger is 
back of the center of the hopper. Consequently, when the 
dump lever is operated, the hanger pushes the bottom away 
from the hopper. It facilitates dumping the ash-pan should 
the hopper be frozen. 

Q. What is the ash dump in a stay less boiler ? 

A. A cylindrical chute or pipe, usually 1 8 or 20 inches in 
diameter, leading from an aperture in the bottom of a corru- 
gated fire-box to the outside shell below, to discharge the 
ashes into the ash-pan. 

THE CROWN-SHEET. 

Q. What is the most effective heating surface in a locomo- 
tive boiler? 

A. That of the crown-sheet. 

Q. Hozv is the crozvn-sheet kept from being forced down by 
the steam-pressure between it and the boiler top? 

A. By sling-stays or by crown-bars. 

Q. In what direction do sling-stays extend? 

A. As nearly as possible at right angles to the surfaces 
which they connect. (See Fig. 30, page 52.) 

Q. What .is the objection to staying crown-sheets by sling- 
stays? 

A. That to be of the greatest effectiveness, they should be 
perpendicular to both the surfaces which they connect. Now 
ordinarily, if at right angles to the crown-sheet they will be 
oblique to the shell, except right in the center line of the 
boiler. 

Q. Hozv can this trouble be got around without discarding 
sling-stays? 



THE CROWN-SHEET. 



73 



A. By making the boiler-shell over the crown-sheet flat and 
parallel therewith, so that each stay-bolt will be- at right angles 




Figs. 55 and 56. Belpaire Fire-box, Matanzas R. R. 

to both the surfaces which it connects, as shown in Figs. 55 
and 56, 

0. What name is given to this type of fire-box? 

A. The Belpaire. 

0. What other advantage has this fire-box? 

A. That its sides can spring a little when the inner sheet is 
heated more than the outer one. 

0. What is the advantage of having the fire-box top curved? 

A. To enable the use of more radial stays than otherwise 
possible, and to give a good surface for reception of the radi- 
ated heat. The curved crown-sheet gives more full threads 
than the flat one, and affords less lodgment for impurities in 
the water. 

0. Uliat is the disadvantage of curved crozoi-sheets? 

A. They necessitate either throwing out too many tubes in 
the upper corners of the furnace, or else increasing the boiler- 
diameter. 

0. Where is the Belpaire fire-box undesirable? 
A. On roads where there is bad water, by reason of its 
affording too ^ood lodgment for scale. 



74 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. For what class of engine is the Bel pair e box least 
desirable? 

A. For eight-wheel and ten-wheel engines, as it throws too 
much weight on the leading truck: 

Q. What is the reason of this? 
.A. The necessity of having a large waist for steam room. 

Q. What other objections are raised to the Belpaire fire-* 
box? 

A. The difficulty of keeping the crown-stays tight near the 
ends of the braces which run from the back head to the top 
of the fire-box shell. 

Q. How may this difficulty be done away with? 

A. By substituting, for the round back-head braces, gussets 
attached to the roof sheets by long angle irons ; sometimes by 
running braces forward to the waist; by running them clear 
forward to the flue sheet; and by riveting heavy angle irons 
crosswise to the roof sheet as near as possible to where the 
brace ends are attached. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of attaching the braces to the 
front flue sheets? 

A. The vibration tends to produce leaks. 

Q. What is another objection to the Belpaire type? 
A. The difficulty of keeping the top turns of the thread 
tight where they join the shell. 

Q. Should a crown-sheet be perfectly level? 

A. No, it should have such inclination that when the engine 
is on a level the back sheet end will be lower than the front, to 
keep water on the back part after the front end may have got 
exposed. 

Q. Why does the crown-sheet of a long furnace slope 
tozuards the back? 

A. To keep it covered in running down a very steep grade. 



THE CROWN-SHEET. 75 

Q. Does not this make it dangerous for the front end of 
the sheet in running up a steep grade? 

A. Xo ; as the front end is nearer the center of the length 
of the boiler, it is not so apt to be uncovered as the back end. 

Q. What is the action of the crown-bars? 

A. They serve as trusses to keep the top sheet from buck- 
ling in. 

Q. Hozv are the crown-bars fastened? 

A. They have at each end feet resting on the side-sheet 
seam, and holding them slightly above the sheet; they are 
double, and between them and the sheet is a thimble through 
which, as well as through the sheet and the bar, goes a bolt; 
then the bars are slung from the boiler-shell, so that they sup- 
port the crown-sheet, and the boiler-shell holds up the bars. 

Q. What is the advantage of cronm-bars for supporting 
crown-sheets? 

A. Greater ease of repair than where direct stays are used. 

Q. What are the disadvantages of the crown-bar system? 

A. It affords good chances for scale and mud to collect 
on the crown-sheet, is heavy and expensive, and the bars take 
up considerable of the water room on the sheet ; it does not 
afford good facilities for inspection or for washing out mud 
and scale; it is not practical for large boilers having wide 
crown-sheets and carrying high pressures. 

Q. What is the advantage of having the crozen-bar bolts 
and the holes through which they pass, slightly tapering? 

A. They are more readily taken out in case leaks occur. 

0. What is the advantage of having cronm-bar washers 
tapering tozvard the sheet? 

A. It gives more surface of the sheet in contact with the 
water, and lessens the liability to overheating around the bolt. 

Q. Why are direct-stayed boilers fiat-topped over the fire- 
box? 



76 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. If they were not flat-topped, and were direct-stayed, the 
crown-stay bolts would not go squarely through the outside 
sheet. 




Fig. 57- Crown-stay Bolts and Nuts, Pennsylvania R. R., Class " O." 

Q. What difference would that make? 

A. A full thread could not be had for the bolt in the out- 
side sheet. 

Q. Why is the dome on direct and radial stay boilers, ahead 
of the fire-box? 

A. If over the fire-box, that portion of the crown-sheet 
directly under the dome could not be properly stayed. 

Q. What is a radial-stay boiler? 

A. One upon which that portion over the fire-box is round- 
topped and the dome is ahead of the box. 

Q. Why is that staying called radial? 

A. Because the crown sheet is somewhat round-topped and 
the crown stays-bolts are run straight through it, radiating 
from the smaller circle (crown-sheet) to points proportion- 
ately spaced on the larger circle (outside sheet). 

Q. How is that portion of the boiler-head above the crown- 
sheet supported? 

A. By braces, the ends of which are attached to crow-feet 
on the shell and boiler-head itself. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of sling stays? 

A. The difficulty of giving all equal strain. 



THE BRICK ARCH. 



77 



Q. What is the disadvantage of radial stays? 

A. That some of them are at such an angle that they have 
too little hold in the thread. 

0. What precaution is it well to take with them? 

A. To give the center six or more rows down, the length 
of the fire-box, button heads under the crown-sheet. 



THE BRICK ARCH. 



Q. Hozl' is the brick arch placed, and zvhat arc its functions? 

A. It is built across the front of the fire-box, from side to 

side ; and extends -forward and upward, forming above the 




Figs. 5S and 59. Brick Arch on Water-vubes. 




Fisrs. 60 and 61. Brick Arch on Water-tubes. 



78 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

grate a diagonally-placed baffle-plate, preventing the flames 
and combustion gases from the front of the grate going di- 
rectly into the lower tubes, and compelling them first to flow 
backward and upward ; thus not only giving them time to get 
more thoroughly aflame, but causing more intimate mixture. 
Besides this, its fire-bricks get white hot and tend to assist 
the combustion when new coal is put on, especially with bitu- 
minous coal. It lessens black smoke by highly heating the 
unconsumed combustion products; also shields the flue-sheet 
and the flues from sudden influx of air when the furnace door 
is opened. 

Q. How are the bricks of the brick arch held up? 

A. By bent tubes secured into the crown-sheet and the tube- 
sheet, thus making water communication betweeti the water- 
leg and the water on the crown-sheet; or by tubes between 
the front and the back leg. (See Figs. 58 to 61 inclusive.) 

Q. Have any experiments been made as to the exact value 
of the brick arch? 

A. Yes. Mr. J. N. Lauder, of the O. C. R. R., took two 
engines of the same dimensions and in about the same condi- 
tion, and put them to run alternately on the same trains, one 
having the Pennsylvania Railroad style of brick arch supported 
by water-tubes, the other a plain fire-box. They ran "opposite 
each other" for two months, and care was taken to see that 
no extra work was done by either that would lessen the value 
of the performance report. For one month the engine with 
the plain fire-box ran 50.87 miles per ton of coal ; that with 
the brick arch, 58.22. For the preceding month the advantage 
was about the same. The train-weight was 160 tons besides 
the engine ; the run, 36 miles, made in 52 minutes, with eight 
or ten "slows" and several "know-nothing" stops. The coal 
consumption was 34.3 pounds of coal per train mile with the 
brick arch, and 39.3 with the plain fire-box, showing about 
four per cent saving. 



THE BRICK ARCH. 79 

Q. What about the necessary hight of brick arch? 
A. It should be higher than the fire-door, so as to deflect the 
air down on the fire when the door is open. 




Fig. 62. Brick Arch. 

Q. Are all master mechanics, engine-runners, and firemen 
agreed as to the value of the brick arch? 

A. No; opinions differ diametrically on this as on many 
other subjects; often because similar conditions do not exist. 

THE BRIDGE OR BRIDGE WALL. 

Q. What is the bridge or bridge-wall in a fire-box? 

A. A fire-brick wall built across a fire-box in front of the 
tube-sheet ; often used to support the front end of the brick 
arch. It forms a combustion chamber in front of the tube- 
sheet and protects the tube ends from the direct heat of the 
fire. 

Q. Where arch tubes arc used, are they of the same material 
as other locomotive boiler tubes? 

A. No, they are heavier. 

Q. Why? 



80 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. Because tubes used in fire-boxes to carry arch brick are 
exposed to the boiler pressure on the inside, while in the case 
of the other tubes, the boiler pressure is on the outside. 

Q. What are the functions of the brick arch? 

A. Steam producing, fuel saving, and smoke prevention. 

Q. How does the brick arch aid in steam producing? 

A. If rightly situated it prevents cold air from the fire-box 
door going direct to the flues, forces the flame up and back 
against the fire-box sheets, and stops the light coal from being 
lifted by the exhaust into the flue ends. 

Q. How should an arch be located to get good results? 

A. The front end should be at least 5 inches from the flue 
sheet, below the bottom of lower boiler tubes, and not nearer 
than 18 inches from the crown sheet. 

Q. If it is right to keep the top of the arch that close to the 
sheet, why not go up still closer? 

A. Any position closer than that is liable to cause such an 
intense heat, on that portion of the crown sheet directly above 
the high part of the arch, that the water would be driven away 
and the crown sheet blistered. 

Q. Is the plan of setting arches on studs, screwed into the 
side sheets, better than setting them on arch tubes? 

A. No ; because where arch tubes are used the benefit of 
their heating surface is a great advantage in steaming. 

Q. How many square feet would three arch tubes, 2 inches 
diameter, 9 feet long, add to the heating surface? 

A. About 14, or perhaps 8 to 10 per cent. 

Q. Do you take into consideration that arch tubes sometimes 
burst, causing injury to men on the engines? 

A. That does happen, but if the tubes are washed out every 
time the boiler is washed there is little danger of that. 

Q. Do you mean that tubes fail oftener because of being al- 
lowed to iill with mud, than from any other cause? 



THE GRATE. 81 

A. Yes ; other failures can be avoided by careful inspection, 

THE WATER TABLE. 

Q. What is a zcater table? 

A. A device for improving the combustion in the fire-box. 
The form invented by William Buchanan, of the X. Y. C. & 
H. R. R. R., consists of two flat, parallel plates^ extending 
diagonally upward from the tube sheet to the back fire-box 
sheet. These plates, which are about 4^2 inches apart, are 
strengthened with stay-bolts in the same manner as the inner 
and outer fire-box sheets, and form an inclined water leg con- 
necting the front and back legs. A hole 18 or 20 inches in 
diameter is made through the center of the table for the pass- 
age of the combustion gases to the upper part of the fire-box 
on their way to the tubes. 

0. Is it extensively used? 

A. Xo. 

THE GRATE. 

Q. What should be aimed at in grate designing? 

A. To get the greatest possible percentage of air space be- 
tween the bars without letting unconsumed or partly consumed 
fuel fall through. 

Q. How can the action of the fire on cast-iron bars be less- 
ened? 

A. By making the upper surface of each bar slightly con- 
cave or "guttered" ; a film of ashes lies in the gutter and pro- 
tects the iron. 

Q. What is the best section for grate-bars? 

A. They should be wider at the top than below, to lessen 
the liability of clogging with ashes or cinders the spaces be- 
tween them. 

Q. What sort of a grate is required for burning anthracite 
coal? 



82 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. One consisting of water tubes and pull bars. 

Q. What class of grates are used for wood? 

A. Stationary bars, ordinarily placed close together. 








Fig. 63. Rocking Grate. 




Fig. 64. Rocking Grate. 

Q, What difference is there between grates for coal and 
those for zwood? 

A. Those for coal are often made so that they may be 
shaken. 

Q. Which takes the larger grate, 'hard or soft coal? 

A. Hard, because the fire must be shallower. 

Q. What grate is usually employed for anthracite or hard 
coal? 

A. It is usually long, and has, instead of ordinary grate- 
bars, tubes in water-connection with the water-space so as to 



THE GRATE. 



83 



permit a circulation in them to keep them from melting or 
burning, and to lessen the liability of mud settling in the lower 
part at that end. 



7777; 



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00 o o o- -o o> o c-o 00 
000000000000 



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Figs. 65, 66 and 67. Water-grate for Bituminous Coal. 

Q. Was the zvide grate first used for anthracite or for bitu- 
minous coal; and why? 

A. For anthracite, because it really needed it. 

0. What is the advantage of width over length in a are- 
box? 

A. (1) Easier on the fireman; (2) lower temperature and 
less deterioration of sheets; (3) improved stay-bolt service. 



84 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISIVL 







THE GRATE. 85 

Q. How may the fire be drawn where a water grate is used? 

A. By removing some solid bars which replace every fourth 
or fifth tube and project clear through both walls of the back 
end of the fire-box, through tubes provided for that purpose, 
and have on their back ends rings by which to draw T them out. 
In front they rest on a bearing-bar. Figs. 29 and 31 show the 
type used on the Philadelphia & Reading road. 

Q. How are water-grate tubes made tight? 
A. By being calked into the inside plate at the front and 
back end of the fire-box. 

Q. How large a grate is needed to burn one ton of coal per 
hour? 

A. About 8 square feet. This of course depends largely 
upon the fuel, anthracite coal taking more surface than soft 
coal or wood. 

0. How is the fire removed from the fire-box? 

A. In soft-coal engines, by a drop door held up by arms 
controlled by a lever outside the fire-box. When this lever is 
turned, the arms which hold up the drop door are removed, 
and the weight brings down the door so that the coals may be 
taken out by a suitable opening, and, by raising the ash-pan 
damper, may be raked out. (See Figs. 72 and 73.) 

Q. What material is usually employed- for ordinary grate- 
bars? 

A. Cast iron. 

Q. What for water-grates? 

A. Wrought iron. 

0. Why are grates sometimes made slanting? 

A. (1) To get the fire low down; (2) to get all the heat- 
ing surface possible, if the fire-box front comes behind the 
main axle; (3) in shallow fire-boxes, to protect the tubes from 
the flame. In addition to pitching them forward, thereby in- 
creasing the protecting distance between the fire and the tubes, 



86 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



«A^«A<A*A<A<AiASSS\S S 



VASV^SVA^ 






£Z1 




«* 



vnSVA^^vwV^ 1 ? ^ 



nop 



N^S^.VVx^VsV^VxX'xVVVV^VvVx^V^.^ .' AwVVV^ 





Figs. 70 and 71. Plain Grate for Wood. 
1. Bar. 2. Dead plate. 3. End-holder. 



THE GRATE. 87 

a brick arch is often used to hold the flame further away 
from the tubes and throw it tow r ard the upper back corner > 
where needed. 

Q. What is the advantage of deep fire-bars? 
A. They heat the air before it enters the fire, and are more 
durable, by reason of the cooling action of the air. 

0. Are zuater-tnbe grates alzcays made with the tubes in 
one horizontal plane? 

A. Xo. In some cases some of them — say every fourth 
one — are raised above the rest. 

Q. What is the objection to the method of putting water- 
tubes in from the front end? 

A. They are more difficult to get at for cleaning. 

Q. What is the use of rocking grates? 

A. To clear the fire where there is used bituminous coal 
containing material which causes it to clinker, or otherwise 
interfere with free combustion. The shaking or rocking grate 
breaks up the clinkers or other foreign or residuary matters 
that may collect on the grate, and w 7 hich tend to choke the 
draft between the bars ; causes such matter to work down be- 
tween the bars into the ash-pan ; and serves to distribute the 
fuel evenly over the grate. 

Q. What is the advantage of putting drop grates midway 
between the flue sheet and the fire-door? 

A. The drop grate at the front end is considered by many 
as doing harm to the flues. Another disadvantage of having 
this grate at the front end is in cleaning the fire out of the box. 
A man doing this work, while poking cinders through drop 
grates, is at a great disadvantage, because he is working over 
a bed of hot coals and the slash bar gets very hot. He also 
becomes over-heated, especially with long or large fire-boxes 
having badly clinkered or dirty fires. 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 







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/smusu^. 



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THE GRATE. 89 

Q. What about putting the drop grate at the back of the 
box? 

A. There are some large engines on which the grates do 
not rock, but tip ; and a drop grate is at the back end of box. 
In cleaning fire, the clinker-pit man pulls the grate lever back 
its full length. This puts the grates straight up and a great 
portion of the fire drops into the pan. With this arrangement 
fires are cleaned very quickly, the door is not opened, nor the 
blower on so long as where the grates rock, in which case large 
pieces of clinker must be broken and pulled back to the drop 
grate. There seem to be no bad results to the back sheet by 
having the drop grate at the back end of the fire-box. 

0. Is it possible to loiter the grates in a fire-box; if so, how? 

A. The grates should be as low as possible in order to get - 
all possible heating surface on the sides and ends of the fire- 
box. Their location, however, is limited by the mud-ring; 
consequently they cannot be lowered farther. 

0. What can you say of the relation between grate opening 
and fire thickness? 

A. The larger the grate openings the thicker the fire can 
and should be carried. 

Q. Hozv much grate area should there be for each square 
foot of heating surface zvith a soft-coal burner, and how much 
•with a culm burner? 

A. With soft-coal burners, as a general rule, the grate area 
is about 1/70 of the heating surface; with culm burners about 
1/30. In this, as in other things, circumstances alter cases, 
but roughly speaking these proportions are fairly accurate. 
A study of various engines illustrated in Railzcay and Loco- 
motive Engineering in 1906 shows: Soft coal burners, B. & 
O., 2-8-0, 49.1 square feet of heating surface to 1 square foot 
of grate area; Wabash, 4-6-0, 83.4 heating to 1 of grate; D. 
& W., 2-8-0, 60.1 to 1 ; Monon, 4-6-2, 66 to 1; Frisco, 4-6-0, 
61.9 to 1 ; XL, K. & T. 4-6-0, 92.8 to 1 ; B. & M., 2-8-0, 61.5 to 



90 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

i ; N. C. & St. L: 3 4-6-0, 78.5 to 1 ; O. S. L., 4-6-2, 61.5 to 1 ; 
N. & W., 4-6-2, 76.1 to 1; Southern, 4-6-2, 71.4 to 1; culm 
burners, C. P. R., 4-6-0, 30.4 to 1 ; D., L. & W., 4-4-0, 24.4 to 
1. The average of these soft coal engines is 69.3 to 1 ; of the 
culm burners 27.4 to 1. 

THE COMBUSTION CHAMBER. 

Q. What is a combustion chamber, and what are its uses? 

A. A compartment or space in a boiler between the fire-box 
and the back tube-sheet to promote combustion and secure 
additional heat from the combustion gases before they enter the 
tubes. It is not yet commonly used. The back tube-sheet is 
in this case from 8 to 20 inches or more ahead of the fire-box 
throat, because with wide, shallow fire-boxes, the tubes give 
trouble by leaking unless kept away from the direct heat of the 
burning coal, where they are subjected to sudden and decided 
changes of temperature, as by putting on a strong blast, or by 
leaving open the fire door. 

Q. Have combustion chambers been tried with locomotive 
boilers? 

A. Yes, and especially recently with success. They tend 
not only to favor combustion but to keep the flues from the 
action of the flames. 

Q. Is there any difficulty with combustion chambers filling 
up? 

A. There is some accumulation of fine ash, but not enough 
to make trouble. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of a combustion chamber? 

A. With a given length of boiler, there is less actual heating 
surface. 

Q. Then where is the principal advantage? 

A. In lessening the repair bill and improving the combus- 
tion. 



THE FLUES. 91 

THE FLUES. 

Q. Of what material are locomotive boiler Hues made? 

A. In America, of iron and of Bessemer steel ; in Europe, of 
these metals and also of copper and of brass. 

Q. When were copper and brass flues or tubes abandoned 
in America? 

A. After coal was substituted for wood. 

Q. What are the usual dimensions of locomotive Hues or 
tubes? 

A. Ten to 14 feet long, two inches in diameter. 

Q. What is the best length of locomotive Hues? 

A. From sixty to eighty times the diameter — from 12.4 to 
14 feet gives the best results. 

0. What is the disadvantage of long tubes? 

A. Increased friction; less heating power at the front end 
than at the back ; leakage owing to vibration. 

Q. What is the minimum distance apart for Hues? 

A. Eleven-sixteenths inch in the clear ; y<\ inch is better. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of having them close? 

A. They weaken flue sheets, retard circulation, and give 
sediment better lodging. 

Q. What is the most difficult boiler trouble to control? 

A. Leaky flues. 

0. Will zvide spacing cure leaky flues? 

A. No. 

Q. What are the influences affecting the leakage of flues? 

A. Length of flue, quality of water and of coal, method of 
firing and of working the injectors or pumps, weather, and 
severity of service ; also the size of the nozzle. 

Q. What is the influence of the nozzle on the flue? 

A. The smaller the nozzle the more trouble with the flues 
leaking. 



92 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What causes tend to compel a reduction in the size of 
the nozzle? 

A. Poor coal and severe service. 

Q. Why is this? 

A. The smaller the nozzle the more severe the blast and the 
greater the blow-pipe action on the flue ends, making them 
hotter than the sheet in which they are expanded, so that when 
they cool down they become smaller than the holes in the sheet. 

0. In what part of the sheet are there usually the most 
leaky flues? 

A. Usually below the boiler axis. 

Q. What does this indicate? 

A. That the short flames of highest temperature go into the 
lowest flues. 

Q. To what design would this seem to point? 

A. To one having a great depth of box below the flues, to 
keep them from the action of these hottest flames. 

Q. Which are apt to have more trouble with leaking Hues; 
through trains or heavy locals? 

A. The latter, because as a rule with the severe exhaust in 
starting w T ith the lever in the corner the ash-pan opening is 
not able to take care of all the draft, taking it through the fire- 
box and heating it before it comes to the flues ; therefore a 
certain amount of cold air comes through the fire-box door. 

Q. How can this be avoided? 

A. Only by a milder exhaust in pulling out from stations* 

Q. Which ends of the Hues give most trouble? 

A. Those in the fire-box. 

0. Why not use tubes of a larger diameter? 

A. Because it is best to divide the combustion-gases into 
small streams, each of which has its outer surface next a sur- 
face of metal, on the other side of which there is water to be 
heated. If the tubes were four inches in diameter, nearly all 



THE FLUES. 93 

the heat of the central portion (say two inches in diameter) 
would be wasted, not having time to be delivered to the metal 
and through to the water on the other side. 




Fig. 74. Cross Section, Pennsylvania R. R. Boiler, Class " O." 

Q. Why not have tubes only one inch in diameter, and give 
still more heating-surface ? 

A. Because there would be too great liability of clogging up, 
and also too much friction between the gases and the tube- 
surface. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of excessive total cross-sec- 
Hon of tubes? 

A. Too slow draft, causing soot deposit. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of too small total cross area 
of tubes? 

A. Obstruction to the draft; besides which, the tubes are 
more liable to be clogged with cinders, and there is less space 
left when they are clogged. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of too short tubes? 

A. The combustion-gases get into the smoke-box before they 



94 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

have parted with enough of their heat, so the engine has both 
its capacity and its duty lessened. 

Q. How are the tube-ends fixed steam-tight in the plates? 

A. By expanding them. 

Q« Are any additional means employed to render the tube- 
joints tight? 

A. Usually there is a ferule or thimble, either of copper, 
between the tube end and the edge of the hole, or of cast 
iron or steel, made tapering and driven in so as to force out 
the tube-end. 

Q. What is the objection to the latter system of inside fer- 
ules? 

A. That it lessens the area of the tube orifices, and conse- 
quently diminishes the draft. 

Q. What is the result of Hue stoppage? 

A. (i) There is less, heating-surface, and (2) there is less 
draft to enable what heating-surface there is to be of use. 

Q. Hozv many tubes are there in a locomotive boiler? 
. A. From 180 to 450. 

Q. How much heating-surface is needed to evaporate six to 
eight tons of water per hour with the consumption of one ton 
of coal per hour? 

A. From 1,000 to 1,500 square feet. 

Q. Is there any other reason } besides the greater propor- 
tionate amount of heating-surface, for having small tubes? 

A. They may be thinner to stand the same external pres- 
sure; this of course makes them cheaper, lessens the engine 
weight, and makes it raise steam rather more quickly. 

Q. Why is the tube-plate thicker than the shell? 

A. Largely by reason of its being greatly weakened by the 
large number of holes cut in it, and partly because it has to 
sustain half the weight and sag of the tubes. 

Q. Are tubes best arranged in vertical or in horizontal rows? 



THE FLUES. 



95 



A. Some think in vertical, as that gives the water better 
chance to ascend among them. Others contend that it is no 
advantage to have the water rise too fast; that it is better to 
have it delayed a little in its upward passage, so as to be longer 
in contact with the tubes. But it must be remembered that 
the bottoms of the tubes are not their hottest portion. 

Q. What is an undoubted advantage of up and down as 
against crosswise rows of flues? 

A. They are more easy to free from scale. 

Q. How are the tubes made tight in the flue-sheet? 

A. By being expanded from within so as to bear hard and 
steam-tight against the reamed edges of the hole ; also by be- 
ing spread or beaded over on their outer ends, which have 
been left slightly projecting. This also gives a lengthwise 
stay to the sheets. 

Q. What is the advantage of counterboring heavy Hue 
sheets? 

A. The amount of flue that is exposed to the heat and is 
not protected by the water is diminished. (See Fig. 75.) 



Ammw^^ 





^^ss^ssss ^ sa 



Fig. 75. Counterbored Flue Sheet. 



Q. Which is more effective, a square foot of heating-surface 
in the fire-box, or cm equal area in the tubes? 
A. That in the fire-box. 



96 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. Which is the more effective, a foot of tube length in the 
front of the boiler, or one in the rear? 

A. One in the rear; each successive foot in length being 
less effective than the one back of it, nearer the fire. 

Q. Which engines have the greatest heating surface, for a 
given cylinder capacity, American or English? 

A. American. 

Q. Why? 

A. They have iron or steel tubes and fire-boxes, whereas the 
English engines have copper fire-boxes and brass tubes, that 
are better conductors of heat. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of the Serve tubes, with radial 
inward projections? 

A. They fill up too rapidly. 

Q. Do tiues choked with cinders always indicate that the 
petticoat-pipe is not doing proper duty? 

A. No ; they may be caused by fuel that is too rich in tarry 
material; particularly by certain kinds of soft wood which 
make on the inside of the tubes a sort of varnish with which 
the cinders get mixed, thus very readily obstructing the flues. 

Q. What othe r / cause of stopped-up flues is there? 

A. Unskilful or careless firing, by which pieces of coal are 
badly deposited in the lower flues. 

Q. What effect has the stoppage of a large number of flues? 

A. It lessens the draft of the heating surface, consequently, 
the development of steam. 

Q. What steps will tend to prevent or lessen leaky flues? 

A. (i) To educate enginemen to bring engines to roundhouse 
or coal dock with full boiler of water and good fire. Then the 
hostler and roundhouse man will not be required to put cold 
water in the boiler when the fire is dying down, being cleaned 
out, or after the engine is in house ; (2) to use the blower very 
lightly — just strong enough to carry away gases and dust from 



THE DOME. 97 

the cab; (3) to see that the flue and grate cleaners and flue 
calkers do not put the blower on wide open when they go in the 
box to clean or calk flues, after the engine has just arrived in 
the house. 

Q. What is apt to be the effect of a rainy' season on a boiler? 

A. To shorten the life of the tubes, especially if there is 
scale on them; the rain water loosens this and lodges it be- 
tween the tubes. 

THE DOME. 

Q. What is the use of the dome? 

A. Theoretically, to serve as a reservoir for steam and to 
give the steam a chance to drop some of its entrained water. 

0. Is it as effective in this particular as has been supposed? 

A. No ; a dome holds but a very few cylinderfuls of steam — 
not enough for ten seconds' supply; and usually weakens the 
shell by reason of the large hole cut therein. Practically it is 
only a convenient place of attachment for throttle-valve, safety- 
valve and other fittings. Many engines are without them, 
without appearing to have lost anything by the omission. 

Q. Where is the dome usually placed? 

A. In America, over the fire-box; in England (if at all) 
at about the center of length of the boiler, or in front. 

Q. Why is the dome usually placed on the wagon-top? 

A. Not to serve as a reservoir for steam, but to bring the 
dry-pipe inlet as high as possible above the water-level. 

Q. How is the dome fastened to the shell or zcagon-top? 

A. Sometimes flanged at the bottom, to fit the circular top, 
and riveted on with two or three rows of rivets ; up-to-date 
practice is with a steel collar, one side of which fits the circular 
top of boiler, and to the other side of which the circular por- 
tion of the dome is riveted. 

Q. What do these collars resemble? 

A. A "plug" hat with the top cut off, the rim being riveted 



98 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

to the top of the boiler, and the other part where the shell of 
the dome is riveted. 

Q. What is used to form the top of locomotive boiler domes ? 

A. Usually cast-iron, to the bottom or flange of which is 
riveted the dome shell. It also has a flat top into which are 
set the studs that hold the dome-cover. 

Q. Of what are dome covers made? 

A. Generally cast-iron ; sometimes cast-steel. 

Q. Why are dome covers made small when it would be so 
much handier in making repairs, if they were larger? 

A. Because there is no means of staying them, except the 
studs around the rim, and it is therefore necessary, at least on 
high-pressure engines, to make the surface of the dome cover 
exposed to steam pressure as small as practical, or just large 
enough to let a man through the opening. 

Q. What is the advantage of a stiff ening-r in g about the 
dome base? 

A. To keep the shell from spreading at the dome where 
weakened by the dome-hole. 

Q. What peculiarity is to be noticed in the steam-dome 
arrangement of the Austrian state railways? 

A. There are two domes connected by a fore-and-aft pipe. 
(See Figs. 76 and 77, page 99.) 

THE SMOKE-BOX. 

Q. What is the use of the smoke-box? 

A. To afford an easy passageway in which the combustion- 
gases may turn from a horizontal to a vertical course in 
leaving the tubes and entering the stack; and to serve as a 
receptacle for solid particles that have been drawn along 
through the tubes from the fire-box; to give room for the 
spark-arrester; also as a place in which the exhaust-nozzles 
may be properly inspected and adjusted; to keep the live 
steam hot on its way to the cylinders, and to prevent the 



THE SMOKE-BOX. 



99 




Figs. 76 and 77. Locomotive for the Austrian State Railways. 

LOfG. 



100 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



exhaust being chilled and thus losing its power of entraining 
air with it. 

Q. Of what is the smoke-box front usually made? 

A. Cast iron, having in its center a large outward-opening 
door which permits inspection and repair of parts inside. 
(Fig. 78.) 




Fig. 78. Smoke-box and Fittings (Lengthwise View). 

I. Exhaust-nozzle. 2. Netting. 3. Deflecting-plate Slide. 4. Deflecting-plate 
Slide. 5. Spark-ejector. 6. Cleaning-hole and Cap. 7. ^haust-thimbles. 



Q. How are engines with short front ends prevented from 
throwing too many cinders? 

A. By "diamond stacks" having cones and nettings, against 
which the sparks and cinders are thrown, and which deflect 
them downwards, while permitting the combustion gases to 
go out. 

Q. What are "sparks"? 

A. Unconsumed or partly-consumed pieces of fuel. 



THE SMOKE-BOX. 



101 



Q. What is the object of the diaphragm in the smoke-box? 
A. To prevent the upper rows of tubes getting too much 
draft and the lower ones too little. 




Figs. 79 and 80. Luttgens' Damper for Coal-burners 

Q. Where is the direct line of draft strongest? 

A. Below the stack. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of the netting? 

A. It diminishes the draft, particularly if fine. 

Q. How may a netting clogged with dirt and burnt oil be 
cleaned? 

A. By burning off the coating with waste soaked in coal oil. 



102 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What is the effect of leaky steam-pipe joints inside of 
the smoke-box? , . 

A. To increase the draft. 

-Q. What is the object of the "extension arch" "extended 
smoke-box" or "long front end"? 

A. To give room for netting and to act as a dead-chamber 
to aid in collecting sparks and cinders. 

Q. How is the draft regulated in an engine with a "long 
front end"? 

A. By an adjustable apron or diaphragm extending forward 
and downward from the front tube-sheets, slightly above the 
tubes, about half way down. 

Q. Where there is an extended smoke-box or "long front 
end" what would be the tendency as regards draft-distribu- 
tion? 

A. For the upper rows of flues to get too much. 

Q. How is this counteracted? 

A. By the diaphragm-plate. > 

Q. If the exhaust-nozzles lie above and back of the wire 
netting, as in the long front end, how can they be got at for 
adjustment or repair? 

A. By a man-hole or hand-hole in the netting; this being 
covered with netting in ordinary conditions. 

Q. What is the effect, on the heaviness of fire required, of 
the long front end? 

A. A light fire may be carried without danger. 

Q. What effect has the long front end on the draft? 

A. It weakens it. 

Q. What is the temperature in a smoke-box? 

A. From 121 to 650 deg. or even 700 deg. C. (250 to 1292 
deg. F.) 

Q. What is the objection to a very deep cast-iron cinder- 
box? 



THE SMOKE-BOX. 103 

A. If it once gets afire inside it may become red hot and 
crack or break off. 

Q. Hozv is the material in the bottom of the smoke-box 
removed? 

A. Through a discharge-pipe in each side of the bottom of 
the box, controlled by a valve or slide; being blown out by a 
steam- jet. 

Q. What is the cause of making nettings get worse ? 

A. Getting them gummed with oil, caused by too hasty 
starting up after valve-oiling. 

Q. Do stack-nettings {spark-arresters) tend to economy in 
steam-raising? 

A. On the contrary, they are a cause of lowering the duty of 
the engine ; and if it were not for the danger of causing fire 
by throwing sparks, should be abandoned. 

Q. What is a good sign of a very bad spark-arrester? 

A. When the combustion-gases tend to come out of the 
fire-box door when it is opened and the steam is shut off, that 
shows how much obstruction the spark-arrester caused. 

Q. Hozc should the inflow of air through the grates, and 
the outflow of air through the flues, be distributed? 

A. Equally over their surfaces. Any front end that draws 
air through grates at any given point or through any certain 
number of flues is defective, and will injure the tubes and 
fire-box, and, in addition, waste coal. 

Q. Hozv is the draft produced? 

A. By creating a vacuum in the smoke arch. The front 
end that will produce the greatest amount of vacuum there, 
and give uniform distribution of air through the grates and 
flues without causing back pressure in the cylinders, is to be 
desired. 

Q. What form of front end zvas formerly most used? 

A. The short one with a diamond stack, bearing a large 



104 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

cone for breaking up and deadening the cinders. The top of 
the stack contained a netting to further reduce the cinders 
and lessen the danger from fires. A petticoat pipe, adjusted 
to a certain hight above the nozzle tips at the bottom and 
below the base of the stack at the top, controlled the draft. 
The smoke-box was usually of the same length as the 
cylinders. 

Q. What led to a change in the form of* front end? 
A. The smoke and cinders thrown out of the stack were 
disagreeable to passengers, the cone braces would burn off, 
and the inside of the stack barrel, as well as the netting, 
would burn out, and thus increase the danger of fires. 

Q. To what did experiments zvith the front end then lead? 
A. To the "extension front end." 
Q. Describe it? 

A. An extension was added to the smoke arch front, of a 
length about equal to the short front end smoke-box. This 
was intended to hold the . sparks until dumped out, at some 
designated point where the engine stopped, through a hopper 
on the smoke-arch bottom. A peep-hole was put on the smoke- 
arch side, so the condition of the smoke-box could be seen 
from without. 

Q. What was used in the place of the cone in this type? 
A. A deflector, or baffle-plate, and a netting in the front 
end below the smoke-stack base. A certain amount of cinders 
was thrown, even at the commencement of a trip, with the 
front end clean ; and if this was arranged so that cinders could m 
not be thrown out at all, the engines would not steam and 
the front end would fill up in a few miles and require frequent 
cleaning out. Gradually these front ends were modified until 
they would go over the road without being cleaned out; so 
that after a certain amount of cinders lodged in the front end 
they were virtually self-cleaning. This style was supposed to 
lessen the danger of fire over the short front end. 



THE SMOKE-BOX. 105 

Q. What objections ivere found to this style? 

A. Fires were still set out. The front ends filled up and 
burned the smoke-arch so that it cracked and leaked, destroy- 
ing the front end vacuum. Peep-hole plates leaked, and 
frequently became lost ; cinder hoppers burned out and leaked, 
and were hard to keep in good condition. 

Q. What conclusion did locomotive men come to? 

A. That if a front end cleaned itself out nearly all the way 
over the road it might as well do it all the way, and unneces- 
sary equipment be done away with, and the whole front end 
be bettered thereby. 

Q. What causes a partial vacuum in the front end when 
engine is working? 

A. The exhaust from the cylinders escaping through the 
stand-pipe and passing up out of the stack. By reason of the 
force with which it escapes it draws along with it part of the 
contents of the front end. 

0. How is this vacuum refilled? 

A. By air rushing in through the dampers, grates and flues 
to the front end and carrying with it a certain portion of the 
fire-box contents. As the exhausts come so rapidly as to be 
in a measure continuous where the engine is moving rapidly, 
the air passing through the grates to the front end is really a 
continuous current moving with a high velocity, which fans 
the fire into a fierce flame. 

0. Why does a leak about the smoke arch destroy the 
vacuum in the front end? 

A. The air coming in at that point fills the vacuum in the 
smoke-box and diminishes the rush of air through the grates. 
This injures the draft and also the steaming qualities. 

0. Would elimination of the spark arrester in the front end 
make the engine steam more freely? 

A. Yes ; it would give better draft through the fire. 



106 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. With what is the partial vacuum in the front end com- 
mensurate? 

A. The frequency and force of the exhaust. 

Q. What effect on the front end has the blower zvhen in 
use, or the air-pump exhaust when in the smoke arch? 

A. The same as the cylinder exhaust only in a minor degree. 

Q. What definition is given this form of draft? 
A. Forced draft. 

Q. What is the other form of draft? 
A. Natural draft. 

Q. Define natural draft? 

A. The tendency that heated air and other gases have to rise, 
allowing cold air to come in and take their place. This is the 
draft that a locomotive has when standing idle with fire burn- 
ing and blower and air pump exhaust closed. An engine that 
steams well under natural draft usually will with forced draft, 
and this indicates a well-arranged front end. 

Q. What regulates the draft with the short front end? ' 
A. The variable arrangement of the petticoat pipe with the 
nozzles as an auxiliary aid. 

Q. What regulates the draft with the extension front end? 
A. The baffle, or diaphragm plate, with the nozzles as an 
auxiliary. 

Q. Has the fuel anything to do with the size of nozzle that 
may be successfully used? 

A. Yes. A soft, easily-igniting coal, free from dirt and 
slate, will allow the use of larger stand-pipe tips than a harder 
coal containing more waste material and igniting more slowly. 
The larger the nozzle, the more economical will be the coal 
consumption. 

Q. What would the result be if the baffle plate ran solidly 
from the top to the bottom of the smoke arch? 



THE SMOKE-BOX. 107 

A. Xo communication from fire-box to smoke-box. Some 
forms of extension front ends almost reached this extreme by 
a roundabout road, and their creators seemed to wonder why 
their engines did not steam. 

0. What effect has raising the baffle plate from the bottom 
of the smoke arch? 

, A. The more it is raised, the freer the communication be- 
tween fire-box and front end, and the less the deflection of the 
gases and sparks. 

Q. What effect has the arrangement of the baffle plate on 
the flues? 

A. The lower flues, being opposite the points of the most 
open communication, are naturally drawn on the hardest, and 
give out most quickly. 

Q. To what was this early failure of the bottom flues often 
charged? 

A. To their being in line with the fire-box door and receiv- 
ing the rush of cold air through it when the door was opened 
in firing. 

Q. Did the brick arch overcome this trouble? 

A. Xot altogether. Finally it was evident that about one- 
third of the tubes were doing three-fourths of the work, and 
that this result was chargeable to the front end. 

0. What aided in forming this conclusion? 

A. The fact that with very large engines the upper rows of 
flues would fill up with ashes in a single trip, indicating that 
the same draft force was not exerted on these as on the 
lower ones. 

0. In changing from the extension front end to the self- 
cleaning front end } what questions confronted master 
mechanics? 

A. Whether it would save coal ; if a saving could be made 
in flues and the general care of the fire-box ; if the cinders 



108 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

thrown out by the self-cleaning front end would be no more 
disagreeable to the traveling public, and involve no more 
danger of fire. The latter seems to have been the verdict 
after a fair trial, for the self-cleaning front ends have come 
into very general use. 

Q. What can be dispensed zvith in the self -cleaning front 
end, that was a necessary part of the extension front end? 

A. All that portion used to contain cinders, the cinder 
hopper and the peep-hole plate. 

Q. Does the short stack on a big engine give as good 
steaming results as the long stack? 

A. No. 

Q. Hozv is this in a measure overcome? 

A. By a suitable petticoat pipe. Some roads have tried 
using an extension of the stack down into the smoke-box. 

Q. Has this proved on the whole satisfactory? 

A. It has not. It causes the smoke and gases to back up, 
as there is no opening to the stack at the bottom of the smoke- 
arch ; this destroys the natural draft, and the smoke and gases 
coming out in the cab when the engine is not working steam 
make it very disagreeable for the men there. 

Q. Has the effort to dispense with petticoat pipes been a 
success? 

A. No. The locomotive requires smaller nozzles, therefore 
uses more coal and is more liable to back pressure. It steams 
more slowly when fired up, and the blower is not so effective, 
when an attempt is made to force the draft. The exhaust be- 
comes scattered and does not pass directly from the stand-pipes 
and the stack, as it should to create the best draft. 

Q. What should limit the length of the smoke-arch? 

A. The area of netting desired. 

Q. Is there any difference appreciable in the use of the 
single or double nozzle? 



THE SMOKE-BOX. 109 

A. Apparently not. Those using each type seem to con- 
sider that particular kind the best. The hight of the nozzle 
in conjunction with the petticoat pipe seems of greater import- 
ance than the mere fact that the nozzle is single or double. 
The short nozzle is to be used with the long petticoat pipe, 
and vice versa. 

Q. How can the draft be changed with the baffle plate? 

A. An overlap plate is used at the bottom of the diaphragm 
plate. This can be raised or lowered at will, to change the 
opening at the bottom of the smoke-arch and give a more 
open draft space. 

Q. Why is the baffle plate a disadvantage to the locomotive? 

A. Because the smoke and gases, coming almost instantly 
in contact therewith when they leave the flues, are deflected 
before being allowed to escape. Hence the name deflector or 
baffle plate. 

Q. What care should be taken in placing a baffle plate? 

A. It should be placed so that it will not be too close to 
the flue sheet, and angled away therefrom so that the sparks 
and gases will not be deflected too sharply downward. An 
engine with the baffle plate too nearly parallel with the flue 
sheet would not steam w r ell. 

Q. If nozzle tips were extended above the stack base } what 
would result? 

A. The required vacuum would not be produced in the* 
front end, and deficient draft would result. The nozzle tips 
must be enough below the stack base to draw on the contents 
of the smoke-arch. The petticoat pipe will remain for some 
time, at least, as a part of the smoke-arch equipment. 

Q. Why is it important that there be no holes through the 
smoke-box sheets or front, and none in the smoke-box seams 
or joints? 



110 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. Because these would tend to lessen the draft, or even to 
make a back draft when the engine w r as moving forward. 

Q. Is a fierce blast on the fire any indication of the best 
possible draft? 

A. No. The fierce blast is usually effected by a small 
nozzle, put in to overcome some other shortcoming of the draft 
arrangement, and causes the engine to consume more coal 
than it should to do its work, if it had a proper front end. 
Small stand-pipe tips very frequently cause back pressure in 
the cylinders, as the avenues of escape for the exhaust are 
too small. 

Q. What is the effect of different rates of evaporation on 
the smoke-box temperature? 

A. The temperature falls between the limits of 590 deg. F. 
and 850 deg. F., with hourly evaporation between 4 and 14 
pounds per square foot of heating surface. 

Q. How does the steam pressure affect the smoke-box tem- 
perature? 

A. Practically not at all. 

Q. Give an equation showing the smoke-box temperature 
with relation to the zvater per square foot of heating surface 
per hour? 

A. According to Prof. Goss, T = 488.5 + 25.66 H; T 
being the smoke-box temperature in degrees Fahrenheit and 
H the pounds of water hourly evaporated from and at 212 deg. 
F. per square foot of heating surface. 

Q. About how much draft will a locomotive have in the 
smoke-box? 

A. It will run from that corresponding to ^A inches of 
water pressure to 12 or even 13 inches. 

Q. What is the relation between the coal consumed per 
square foot of grate surface per hour and the draft in inches 
of water in the smoke-box? 



THE SMOKE-BOX. 



Ill 



A. It is about 0.05 ; that is, the draft in inches of water is 
1/20 the number of pounds of coal consumed per square foot 
of grate per hour; so that 200 pounds of coal per square foot 
of grate per hour would call for 10 inches of draft. 

Q. What may be said of the quality of the combustion- 
gases in the smoke-box of a locomotive as compared with that 
in the power plant stacks? 

A. It compares very favorably; the carbonic acid gas aver- 
aging between 10 and 13 per cent. 

Q. What may be said of the efficiency of a locomotive 
boiler at minimum and at maximum coal consumption? 

A. At maximum coal-consumption rate it will run from 39 
to 60 per cent ; at minimum from 63 to 79 ; the average being 
between 55 and 68 per cent; and in most cases above 60 per 
cent. Stationary boilers in first-class order and regulation 
settings, with every convenience to obtain good results from 
the use of fuel at comparatively low combustion rates do not 
often run over 70 per cent. 

Q. What is most to be desired in designing a front end? 

A. A design that will give the best possible result in the 
way of draft. 




Figs. 81 and 82. Self-cleaning Front End. 



112 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. What is meant by "the best possible result"? 

A. The greatest possible amount of steam that can be 
produced from a given amount of coal consumed, to perform 
a given work in a given time. 

Q. What is a cause of warping and cracking long front 
ends? 

A. Leaky doors on the front, causing the hot cinders to 
burn. 

Q. Describe a self-cleaning front end? 

A. Referring to Fig. 81, there is a perforated steel table 
plate A with manhole M ; back of the exhaust pipes N and 
petticoat pipe P there is an ordinary adjustable diaphragm, 
set as high as possible. An adjustable front diaphragm or 
baffle-plate carries the draft far enough ahead to make the 
front end self-cleaning. 

Q. Can front ends without petticoat pipes be made self- 
cleaning? 




Figs. 83 and 84. Front End without Petticoat. 

A. Yes, as shown in Figs. 83 and 84. 

Q. Why will not lead gaskets keep a blower joint in the 
smoke-box tight? 




0=^=== 




MAFFEI COMPOUND OF BADEN STATE RAILWAYS. 



.Section Elevation. 



THE SMOKE-BOX. 113 

A. Because lead melts at 627 deg. F. (364 deg. C.) and the 
flue temperature is often as high as 1,000 deg. F. (say ^75 
deg. C). 

Q. Is the smoke-box temperature any gage of the capacity 
of the engine runner? 

A. Yes, a good engineman can keep the temperature 100 
deg. *F. (55.6 deg. C.) lower than a poor one. 

Q.-What may the temperature of the gases in the smoke- 
box be? 

A. Anywhere from 400 deg. to 900 deg. F. 

Q. When it is hot enough to melt lead gaskets in the blower- 
pipe joints is it too hot? 

A. As lead melts at about 625 deg. F. the melting of the 
blower- joints in the smoke-box should show that heat was 
going up the stack, which should be utilized in steam-making. 

Q. How should the studs which fasten the steam-pipes to 
the saddle be put in? 

A. First greased, then rolled in graphite (plumbago; black 
lead) so that they can more readily be got out. 

Q. What causes burning or warping of the "long front 
end"? 

A. Burning of cinders therein, caused by a leak in the 
smoke-box ; or by the door being partly open, or being warped 
so as not to close air-tight. 

Q. When should the long front end be cleaned out? 

A. When standing still, to avoid the sharp cinders cutting 
the machinery when blown back. 

Q. What is the Sturm spark-arrester? 

A. It is arranged so that the front and back screen sheets 
are closed automatically by a steam piston when the throttle 
is open ; otherwise they are open, so as to give good draft. 
(See Plate I, showing the Maffei compound engines of the 
Baden state railways.) , 



114 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. How may the draft be lessened, although the engine is 
■running with a sharp exhaust, without opening the fire-door? 

A. By a chimney-damper, as shown in Figs. 79 and 80. It 
admits air at the stack base, thus doing away with the neces- 
sity of opening the fire-door and admitting cold air into 
the box. 

THE PETTICOAT-PIPE. 

Q. What is the use of the petticoat-pipe? 

A. To insure uniformity of draft; that is, that the draft 
shall come from all the flues equally, notwithstanding the tend- 
ency of the upper ones to get the most ; and that it is delivered 
centrally and at the right hight in the stack. 

Q. What is the effect of a petticoat-pipe set too high? 

A. Too much draft through the lower flues, and choking of 
the upper ones with soot and fine ashes. 

Q. What is the sign of the petticoat-pipe being set at the 
right hight? 

A. Uniformly clean appearance of the flues, as judged from 
the front end. 

Q. W hat is the effect, on the fire, of a badly-arranged petti- 
coat-pipe? 

A. Usually to tear it in spots. 

Q. How may this be remedied? 

A. Partially by firing very heavily. 

Q. How may the working of the petticoat-pipe and nozzle 
be judged while on the run? 

A. By opening the fire-box. door on a hard pull and seeing 
if the combustion is more vivid in certain places than in others. 
If this is the case, on several inspections, it may be concluded 
that these places are getting more draft than their neighbors. 

EXHAUST NOZZLES. 

Q. What becomes of the exhaust steam? 



THE SMOKE-BOX. 115 

A. In a single-expansion (non-compound) engine the ex- 
haust passes from the exhaust-passage through the exhaust- 
pipe, thence through the nozzle and up through the smoke-box 
into the stack, drawmg with and around it a current of air and 
combustion-gases from the fire-box. 

Q. What controls the amount of draft caused by the ex-' 
haust-nozzles? 

A. Partly the point of cut-off, partly the degree and time of 
exhaust-opening of the slide-valve, partly the diameter and 
general character of the exhaust-nozzle, and partly the char- 
acter and position of the petticoat-pipe or of the diaphragm. 

Q. What object is there in having the exhaust steam go 
through the stack ? 
A. To create a draft. 

Q. What is the blozver pipe? 

A. A pipe to convey steam from a valve on the boiler head 
to the exhaust-nozzle tip or stack base, to create a draft to 
stimulate the fire when the engine is standing; also to lessen 
black smoke when steam is shut off, as when approaching a 
station. 

Q. How is the locomotive boiler given the strong draft that 
distinguishes it from other types? 

A. When not running, by the blower. When running, by 
the exhaust from the cylinders escaping through exhaust-noz- 
zles or blast-orifices, discharging parallel with the axis of the 
stack so as to draw the combustion gases by friction with the 
steam-jets which they discharge. Of course the greater the 
steam consumption the stronger the draft, and the greater the 
steam generation by reason of the greater frequency or volume 
of the exhaust. 

Q. Hozv is the draft regulated in an engine until a short 
front end? 

A. By a lift-pipe or petticoat-pipe between the nozzles and 



116 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

the stack, and which is larger than the nozzles and smaller than 
the stack. Raising or lowering this regulates the draft. 

Q. What is the action of the exhaust-blast in making in- 
creased draft? 

A. The jet of exhaust steam is supposed to be of cylindrical 
section ; whether it is or not, it has not smooth sides, and there 
is a certain amount of friction of the air in the stack, against 
it. As it moves up it carries with it by friction a certain quan- 
tity of that air, the place of which must be supplied by other 
air. As the easiest way in which air can get into the stack to 
supply the place of that which the blast has drawn out, is 
through the grate, fire-boxes and tubes, we have at every puff 
of the exhaust a supply of air entering the fire-box through 
the grate. 

Q. Of what material are the exhaust-pipes? 

A. Cast iron. 

Q. Is there usually one nozzle or two? 

A. Two ; although there have been a number of plans by 
which the two blasts may be converged into one orifice ; as for 
instance by one being conducted through an annular pipe sur- 
rounding the other. 

Q. Hozv are the exhaust orifices varied in diameter? 

A. The nozzles are often removable, being fastened by set- 
screws so that they may be readily taken off or attached. There 
are also what are known as variable exhausts, by which the 
exhaust orifice diameter may be changed without changing the 
nozzle itself; but these are usually too complicated. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of too large exhaust orifices? 

A. Insufficient draft without the use of the blower, which 
latter of course calls for a consumption of live steam. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of too small exhaust orifices? 

A. Back pressure in the cylinders. 

Q. How has it been attempted to draw the combustion- gases 



THE SMOKE-BOX. 



117 



from the lower ranks of tubes with the exhaust orifices at the 
level of the tipper ranks? 

A. By what is known as the vortex nozzle, which has a 
central passage around which the exhausts discharge, and 
through which the friction of the inside of the annular exhausts 
draws combustion-gases from below ; while the friction of the 
outside of the same annular exhausts draws these gases from 
the upper ranks of tubes. 

Q. What is the advantage of a double-nozzle exhaust-pip ef 

A. That neither cylinder interferes with the other. 

Q. What is its disadvantage? 

A. That the blast is not quite concentric with the stack. 

Q. How can these troubles be got around? 

A. Usually by having one nozzle surrounding the other. 

Q. Should the exhaust nozzle be larger for a hard or for a 
soft-coal fire? 

A. For hard coal and thin fires. 

0. Is it feasible to reduce the blast-pressure and still have 
the boiler generate enough steam? 

A. Yes ; as it is now, too much dependence is placed on the 



_n_ nn 



Figs. 85 and 86. A Single and a Double Kxhaust Nozzle. 



exhaust ; and in England and in this country, it has been found 
that compound engines with soft blast have given just as good 



US LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

capacity and duty as high-pressure non-expansive ones with 
sharp. 

k Q. As betzveen the two kinds of exhaust nozzles shown in A 
and B , Figs. 85 and 86, what are the relative advantages and 
disadvantages? 

A. Style A has the advantage of giving a central jet through 
the stack, but as it does not exactly divide one cylinder from 
the" other, the exhaust of one may slightly influence that from 
the other. Style B thoroughly divides the exhaust from one 
cylinder from that of the other, but does not give a central jet. 

0. Do small nozzles cause saving or loss of fuel? 

A. Loss. 

Q. What is the objection to too small nozzles? 

A. They tend to tear the fire, and they .cause back pressure 
in the cylinders. 

0. As betzveen single and double nozzles, zvhich are pre- 
ferable? 

A. Usually double ones, as the single ones tend to influence 
one cylinder by the exhaust of the other. 

Q. How may it be known that the nozzles are too small? 

A. Usually by the tearing of the fire, as well as by too sharp 
exhaust. 

Q. In what form does the steam jet, after leaving the nozzle, 
ascend the stack? 

A. In a screw or spiral. 

Q. Assuming that the jet "whirls" what would be the effect 
of the petticoat-pipe being too large? 

A. It would not keep the steam jet w T ithin proper bounds; 
some part might strike the smoke-arch top and interfere with 
the draft. 

Q. Of two exhaust pipes } one high and the other low, for 
the same stack dimensions and other conditions^, zvhich should 
be the larger? 



THE SMOKE-BOX. 



119 



A. The low one, to give the same draft. 

0. JVM an engine draw smoke and cinders from the smoke 
arch in the steam chest and cylinder when running down grade 
with the throttle closed and reverse lever in the forward notch? 

A. Yes. The suction through the nozzles is very slight 
when running with reverse lever in full gear, but there is al- 
ways some. When running notched up the action is very 
decided. 

Q. Do the diameter and length of the stack in any way affect 
the efficacy of a locomotive as a "steamer"? 

A. Yes ; with some front-end arrangements a long stack 
does better than a short one. The general tendency is to re- 
duce the hight of the stack, and rely on the adjustment of 
exhaust tips, etc., to produce the best blast or draft. 

0. Has the form of the exhaust nozzle, independently of 
the diameter, any influence on the draft? 

A. Yes. Fig. 87 shows a 3-inch copper bushed, Fig. 88 a 
3-inch iron-ring bushed nozzle, where the saving in fuel was 
about 15 per cent. 

0. What is the disadvantage of a very sharp exhaust? 

A. The combustion gases are drawn through the tubes too 
rapidly to be able to part with their heat. 




Fig. 87. Fig. 88. 

Exhaust Nozzle. 

0. Do contracted nozzles save or zvaste fuel? 

A. Waste it. 

0. Does a high or a low cone most obstruct the draft? 



120 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. A low one, particularly if wide. 

Q. Does a single exhaust nozzle need half the cross section 
that a double one has? 

A. No ; because the exhausts are not simultaneous ; but it 
must be somewhat larger. 

Q. Hozu many nozzle-tips usually come with each engine? 

A. Three. 

Q. What does it indicate zvhen the exhaust and smoke from 
an extension-front engine, of the M. M. S. pattern, all pass up 
to one side, or in front, or back of the stack? 

A. A poor steaming engine, with one of the following de- 
fects : i, stack to one side, or front, or back of the exhaust 
pipe ; 2, petticoat-pipe not set in true ; 3, exhaust-nozzle not set 
squarely on the pipe, leaving a shoulder. 

Q. Will any other defect cause this side exhaust? 

A. Yes ; when a petticoat-pipe is used, and that gets out of 
proper "line." 

Q. What is the object of the petticoat-pipe in extension-front 
locomotives? 

A. Its main purpose is to direct the steam jet from the 
exhaust-nozzle into the smoke stack, and also to make a more 
continuous pull on the fire. 

Q. Can the "pull" on the fire be manipulated to any extent 
by changing the position of the petticoat-pipe? 

A. Yes ; the greater the space between bottom of smoke 
stack and top of pipe, the less continuous the "pull." 

Q. Does the diameter of the pipe cut any figure? 

A. The smaller the diameter (within certain limits) the 
stronger the "pull," because the smaller pipe gives velocity to 
the escaping matter from the front end, thereby causing the 
fire to burn more strongly. 

Q. How can you tell if the stack, exhaust pipe, and nozzle 
are all in line zvith each other? 



THE SMOKE-BOX. 121 

A. Stand between head-light and stack and hold the end 
of a stick over the inside, passing it around the top, when the 
engine is working. If the exhaust strikes the stick harder 
on one side than on the other, the stack is out of line, or not 
filled by the exhaust. 

Q. Why not test this by sight from the cab? 

A. Because the stack might be out of line front or back, 
and this would not show. 

0. Hozc can the exhaust stand-pipe be tested for leak? 

A. When the steam-pipes are tested with cold-water pres- 
sure, close the relief valves and cylinder cocks, plug the nozzle, 
fill all up with water, and put on the pressure. 

0. What is the best time and way to test the tightness of 
steam joints? 

A. After the engine has been in the hous^p some time, with 
fire dumped and about 40 pounds of steam, to open out the 
front end and cool the smoke-box, then give steam with lever 
in the center and cylinder-cocks shut, and test with a torch on 
a stick. 

0. What is a common cause of leaky exhaust-pipe joints? 

A. Where the nozzle .is fitted to the stand-pipe with a flat 
ground joint and only two studs, there is apt to be an opening 
at the quarter places between the studs. 

0. What is the remedy? 

A. Two more studs. 

0. What is the prevention? 

A. Three studs instead of two. 

0. Hozv can a leaky exhaust-pipe joint be tested? 

A. By plugging the nozzle, opening the angle-cock on rear 
of tender, closing the cylinder-cocks and relief-valves, and 
pumping up air; the torch will show any leak at the joint. 

0. Suppose the air-pump exhaust is not coupled into the 
main exhaust? 



122 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. Break the joint, red-lead one face; bolt the joint to- 
gether, and see if complete metal-to-metal contact has been 
made. 

Q. If a gasket be used here, what is the best kind? 
A. Soft copper. 

Q. What precaution should be taken to prevent the engine 
from throwing Href 

A. Not to cut off so sharply; to increase the size of the ex- 
haust nozzles. 

THE STACK. 

Q. What is the object of the stack? 

A. To make a draft and to remove the hot combustion- 
gases and cinders to a hight which will enable them to clear 
the train and other objects near the ground-level. 

Q. What is the object of making it larger at the top than at 
the bottom, when it is so done? 

A. It gives a better passage for the combustion gases, and 
lessens the distance to which sparks are thrown; thus it helps 
the draft. 

Q. Into what classes may stacks be divided? 

A. Into inside and outside. 

Q. What is an outside stack? 
• A. One which does not extend into the smoke-box 

Q. What is an inside stack? 

A. One which extends down into the smoke-box. 

Q. With a tapered stack, zvhat relation is there between the 
diameter for best results and the hight? 

A. The diameter does not vary with the hight. 

Q. Is the best diameter for a stack affected by the hight of 
exhaust tip? 

A. Yes ; the diameter for the best result is greater as the 
nozzle tip is lowered. 



THE STACK. 123 

Q. What is the relation between the stack diameter and the 
front end when the exhaust tip is at the center of the boiler? 

A. The smallest stack diameter should be one-quarter as 
great as the front-end diameter. 

Q. What is the relation between the diameter and the hight 
of the outside stack ? 

A. The diameter does not need to be varied when the hight 
is changed. 

Q. With inside stacks, what is the relation between the di- 
ameter and the degree of penetration? 

A. As the penetration into the smoke-box increases, the stack 
diameter should be reduced. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of a false top for an inside 
stack? 

A. It interferes with free access to the front end. 

Q. What gives practically the same result as a false top for 
a stack? 

A. A ring or flange ; a bell is almost as good. 

Q. What kind of a stack is usually given with the long 
front end? 

A. A plain cylindrical one like a straight pipe.. (Fig. 89.) 

O. What is the diamond stack? 

A. It has a central pipe, above the axial line of which is a 
cast-iron cone-like deflector against which the sparks and cin- 
ders strike, this causing many of them to fall, besides lessen- 
ing the force with which the others strike the wire netting 
that is put over the top of the pipe to keep live cinders getting 
into the open air. Below the cone is a chamber into which 
the sparks may fall, and where they may cool. (See Fig. 90.) 

Q. What gives its name to the diamond stack? 

A. The outline of its top. 

0. What name is given to the conical plate suspended in 
the axis of the diamond stack, near its top? 



124 



LOCOMOTIVE CAT £CHISM. 



A. The spark-deflector or cone. 

Q. For what classes of fuel is the diamond stack specially 
adapted? 

A. For bituminous coal and for wood, when the smoke-box 
is small. 



< 



> 





Figs. 89 and 90. Smoke-stacks. 

I Base. 2. Base-flange. 3. Cone. 4. Top. 5. Netting. 6. Body. 7. Chamber. 
S. Inside Pipe. 9 Hand-hole and Plate. 



Q. What may be said of the annular space between the two 
cylindrical shells of the stack for wood-burning engines? 

A. It must be wider than for other fuel, to receive sparks. 

Q. What other form of stack besides the diamond stack is 
used for burning wood? 

A. The form shown in Fig. 91, in which there is a very wide 
double cone-top surrounding a central cylindrical pipe, a cone 



THE STACK. 



125 



deflector, and a central wire netting. The space around the 
central pipe serves as receptacle for cinders and is supplied 
with a hand-hole through which they may be removed. 




Fig. 91. Stack for Wood. 



Q. Of what material are smoke-stacks usually made? 

A. For ordinary requirements the outsides are of sheet 
iron; sometimes with cast-iron tops to prevent wear by abra- 
sion. Where the climate is very damp and warm, copper is 
sometimes used for the stack. For all climates, the nettings 
are of iron or steel wire. 

Q. Hozv big should be the inner pipe of a smoke-stack? 

A. For non-compound engines, about an inch smaller than 
the cylinder-diameter; sometimes of the same diameter as the 
cylinders. 



126 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of a stack that is too large 
at the bottom? 

A. It will get clogged at the bottom, by soot. 

0. What is the test of the correctness of stack diameter? 
A. If the exhaust keeps it clean along its full length, it is 
all right. 

O. How high should be the stack? 

A. The higher the better, by reason of the greater draft 
which can be given ; but this is limited by the tunnels and 
bridges, etc., along the line, to 14 or 15 feet above the rail. 
Of course in such an engine as the Wootten — the central line 
of the boiler of which usually stands about a foot and a half 
higher than in other engines — this makes a proportionately 
short stack, and proportionately less draft, which must be made 
up for by other means. 

Q. What about the stack diameter? 

A. It should be several inches less than that of the cylinder. 

Q. What of stack hight? 

A. Not over 15 feet above the rail for most American roads, 
on account of bridges and tunnels ; less for British engines. 

Q. Can the stack be used as a so-called smoke consumer? 

A. No. 

0. What is the evil effect of too great stack diameter? 

A. Defective draft, as the exhaust column does not suffi- 
ciently fill the stack area. 

Q. What influence has a draft-pipe on the necessary stack 
diameter? 

A. The presence of a draft pipe calls for a stack of smaller 
diameter than would be used without it; but no possible com- 
bination of single draft-pipe and stack gives a better draft than 
can be obtained by a properly proportioned stack without a 
draft-pipe. 

Q. What are the advantages of a double draft-pipe? 



PRESSURE-GAGES. 127 

A. It makes a small stack workable. 

Q. Can it give a draft equal to that which may be obtained 
without them, if the plain stack is suitably proportioned: 7 
A. Xo. 

0. Why are some stacks made with an inner and an outer 
shell? 

A. To give an air space to keep the outer shell cool and 
prevent its being cut away by cinders. Cast-iron stacks do 
not require it. 

Q. Are there any kind of locomotive smoke-stacks which 
may be said to save fuel? 

A. It seems to be the sense of many master mechanics that 
smoke arches may be arranged to prevent sparks from setting 
fire to fences, etc., but that all the saving which has been done 
upon engines having the "long* front end" and special spark- 
arresting devices, is by reason of the brick arch in the fire-box. 

PRESSURE-GAGES. 

Q. Hozv is the engine-runner informed of the pressure in 
the boiler? 

A. By a steam-gage, the essential part of one kind of which 
is a shallow circular metal box having opposite sides of elastic 
corrugated plates which the pressure of the steam tends to 
force apart. The amount of their movement is indicated by a 
pointer traveling about a circular dial graduated to indicate 
the pressure in pounds per square inch above atmospheric 
pressure. 

0. Is there no other form of steam-gage than the one unth. 
disks forced apart by the pressure? 

A. There is the Bourdon type, in which the pressure is made 
to straighten more or less a curved flattened elastic metal tube. 
(Fig. 92.) 



128 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What is the tendency of increase of internal pressure on 
the bent Hat tubes? 

A* To straighten them. 




Fig. 92. Interior of Crosby-Bourdon Steam-gage. I 

Q. Name some makes using tubes? 

A. Bourdon, Crosby, Ashcroft. 

Q. Using disks? 

A. Utica. 

Q. What precaution is taken to prevent the steam taking 
the temper out of steam-gage disks or tubes? 

A. They are put on with a turn or two of the pipe between 
boiler and disk; the bend of the pipe gradually filling with 
condensed steam, which prevents live steam from touching 
the elastic disks or tubes. 

Q. To what should the handle of the steam-gage point when 
the connection between the latter and the boiler is shut off? 

A. To or zero. 

Q. Does its pointing to when steam is shut off necessarily 
show that it is correct? 

A. No. If it points to a figure above 0, it is certainlv out 



STEAM PRESSURE. 129 

of order ; but the fact of its pointing to when steam presssure 
is shut off does not prove its correctness even at low pressures. 
It might keep on pointing to when there was pressure on it ; 
or point to 90 with 100 pounds. Gages may be "fast" at some 
steam pressures, "slow" at others. 

Q. What is the most dangerous steam-gage to have, a "fast* 
or a "slow" one? 

A. A "slow" one. 

Q. Hozv should steam-gages be tested? 

A. Against a standard mercury column, and by competent 
persons. 

STEAM PRESSURE. 

Q. What is your understanding of steam pressure, as shown 
by the steam-gage? 

A. It is pressure per square inch on the interior of the boiler 
and connected parts over and above the atmospheric pressure 
of about 14.7 pounds per square inch. (Pressure including 
such atmospheric pressure is called "absolute pressure" or 
""pressure above vacuum.") 

Q. Is it advisable always to carry high pressure? 

A. Yes; just below the blowing-off point; this saves water, 
lience fuel. 

Q. What are the causes of this zvater saving? 

A. They are two: 1, less water is carried over mechanically 
t>y the high-pressure steam; 2, this high-pressure steam is 
from the purely caloric standpoint more economical. There is 
also less risk of knocking out a head. 

Q. How may a sudden rise of pressure be counteracted? 

A. By opening the heaters, starting the feed, damping the 
fire, and even blowing the whistle, after muffling its bell by a 
rag over its mouth. 

Q. Do you consider it wasteful to have an engine blozv off 
•steam frequently? 



130 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. Decidedly ; also in less degree to be always whistling. 

Q. What are the advantages resulting from using high pres- 
sure steam with short cut-off, as compared with throttled 
steam and late cut-off? 

A. (a) Drier steam; (b) less water evaporated and less 
coal burned to do the same work; (c) less steam to get rid of 
at stroke end, free exhaust, especially for high speeds; (d) 
the expansive force of high-pressure steam being much greater 
than that of low-pressure steam, there is increased economy. 

Q. With how much steam should the engine come in to the 
terminal station? 

A. With enough to run into the round-house after the fire- 
box is cleaned out. 

Q. What precaution should be taken in drawing the fire? 
A. To use the blower sparingly, in order to prevent causing 
leaks. 

Q. What should be done as soon as the. ash-pan is cleaned 
out? 

A. All dampers closed, to let the sheets and flues cool grad- 
ually. 

Q. How much more than the regular working pressure 
should a boiler be able to stand before bursting or otherwise 
giving way? 

A. Five or six times as much. 

Q. What is the theory of explosions advanced by the Rail- 
way Master Mechanics' Association? 

A. Explosions occur from' over-pressure ; it matters not 
whether the whole boiler or a portion is too weak to resist the 
pressure* 

Q. What is the most prolific source of locomotive boiler 
explosions? 

A. Broken staybolts are said to account for nine-tenths of 
them. 



STEAM PRESSURE. 



131 



0. Hoz^ often should the pressure-gage be tested? 

A. Monthly. 

Q. Hozc are pop-valves set? 

A. First, one against the other. The one that loses the 
least steam should be set to be the first to open. This should 
then be screwed down, the other set at two or three pounds 
more than boiler pressure, then the first one opened out to 
boiler pressure. 

0. What about the proper steam-pressure to secure best 
fuel economy? 

A. It should be kept just below the blowing point; giving 
drier steam and enabling the surmounting of difficulties. 

Q. What are the disadvantages of increasing the pressure 
of a locomotive boiler? 

A. Increased weight for a given amount of heating surface ; 
with feed water of poor quality, increased difficulty of main- 
taining the working condition of the injectors and boiler 
checks; increased difficulty of keeping the boiler tight; in- 
creased incidental losses, especially those from leaks of steam 
or water from the boiler and the cylinders. 

Q. Can you quote a table shonnng the coal saving resulting 
from the employment of high pressure? 

A. Yes ; that made from the tests of Goss is as follows : 



240 pounds 
220 pounds 
200 pounds 
180 pounds 
160 pounds 
140 pounds 
120 pounds 



boiler 
boiler 
boiler 
boiler 
boiler 
boiler 
boiler 



pressure 
pressure 
pressure 
pressure 
pressure 
pressure 
pressure 




Coal. 



Saved for Each Incre- 
ment of Pressure. 



Pounds. 



0.04 
0.05 
0.06 
0.07 

0.14 
0.17 



Per Cent. 



1.2 
1 5 
1 7 
2.0 

38 

4-4 



132 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. Can you give a table from actual practice, showing the 
steam per horse-power per hour under normal conditions of 
running, at various pressures? 

A. Yes ; that of Goss is as follows : 



1 20 pounds boiler pressure 
140 pounds boiler pressure 
160 pounds boiler pressure 
180 pounds boiler pressure 



Steam 

per 

H P.hr 



29.1 
27.7 
26.6 
26.0 



200 pounds boiler pressure 
220 pounds boiler pressure 
240 pounds boiler pressure 



Steam 

per 

H.P.hr. 



25.5 
25.1 
24.7 



Q. Does the rate of increase per pound of pressure increase 
or diminish? 

A. The tests show that it decreases with each successive 
equal- increment of pressure ; thus an increase of pressure from 
160 to 200 pounds results in an hourly saving of 1.1 pound of 
steam per horse-power, while a similar increase from 200 to 
240 pounds improves the performance only 0.8 pound. 

Q. Do successive equal increments of pressure cause equal 
increase in coal saving? 

A. No; an increase from 160 to 200 pounds results in the 
saving of 0.13 pound of coal per horse-power hour, while a 
similar change from 200 to 240 pounds results in a saving of 
but 0.09 pound. 

Q. What effect have successive increments of pressure on 
the difficulties of maintenance of boiler and cylinders? 

A. They increase with successive increments. 

TRY-COCKS. 

Q. How can the engine-runner know the hight of the water 
in the boiler? 

A. By try-cocks or by a water-column. 
Q. Where are try-cocks usually placed? 



WATER-GAGE. 133 

A. On the back end of the boiler, where they may be readily 
seen and got at. 

0. Where are they placed as regards the water-level? 

A. One where it is desired to keep the water level, one 
about four or five inches above this, another about four or 
five inches below. 

0. What provision should there be for taking away the 
water that is discharged from the try-cocks? 

A. There should be a drip into which each may discharge, 
and from which the water is carried through the cab floor by 
a drip-pipe. 

0. What precaution should be taken as regards the proper 
reading of the try-cock indications? 

A. To let them discharge for a second or so to see whether 
the water which comes away is from below the water-level, 
or is steam that has been condensed in the gage-cock or its 
connection. 

0. Vvhat safety appliance should try-cocks have? 

A. A check-valve, to close in case of accident to the cock. 

0. Is it safe to run an engine with one or more of the gage- 
cocks stopped up? 

A. Xo. All should be in working order. If there was no 
water glass in working order and all gage cocks stopped up, 
the engine would be disabled as far as handling a train safely 
is considered. Because some men have done it, it is no sign 
that it is safe. 

THE WATER-GAGE. 

Q. Describe a water-gage or water-column? 

A. There are two openings in the end of the boiler, one 
above and the other below the desired water-level. Into each 
is secured a fitting supplied with a screw-down valve which 
shuts it off from connection with the boiler space, and having 
a socket in which is inserted, with suitable packing, a strong 



134 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

glass tube. When the valves are open, the water should 
stand in the tube at the same level as in the boiler with which 
the latter is in connection. There is from the lower one a 
drip-cock by which the tube may be drained when the valves 
are closed; suitable rods guard it from accidental breakage 
from outside. The tube may be either vertical or inclined; 
in either case the water-level should be at the same hight 
therein as in the boiler. 

Q. Of what is it a sign when the zvater in the glass does not 
move up and down when the engine is on? 
A. Of a closed bottom cock. 

Q. Why "bottom cock"? 

A. Because if the bottom cock were open, the water would 
bob just the same as if the top one were open. 

Q. Then the water glass is not reliable? 
A. Not if it is closed. The same might be said of the steam 
gage. 

Q. Is the indication of water level by the gage glass a safe 
indication, if the water level in the glass is not moving up 
and down when the engine is in motion? 

A. No ; it is a sign that the tube connections are stopped up. 

Q. Is any more water used when an engine foams than 
when water is solid? 

A. Yes ; because water is carried away into the cylinders 
with the steam. 

Q. A fireman was firing a heavy mogul engine, and there 
was a leak in the pipe from the boiler to the top of the water 
glass. This latter showed full when only one gage was in the 
boiler. He stopped the leak by a new gasket; the water then 
dropped to zuithin two inches of bottom of glass. Explain this. 

A. The false register was due to the leak in the pipe. The 
actual pressure in the pipe might not have been one ounce 



WATER-GAGE. 135 

less than that at the bottom cock, but even that would raise 
the water in the glass six inches. 

Q. Where should extra gage-glasses be kept? 

A. In a tray in the tool-box, where they can be got at at 
once. 

Q. What precaution should be taken about the gage-glasses? 

A. To have them cut to length all ready to put in place, and 
with washers or hemp packing complete. 

Q. Is the zcater-glass safe to run by, if the zeater line in the 
glass is not in sight, and moving up and dozen zdicn the en- 
gine is in motion? 

A. Xo. You could not tell the correct level of the water in 
the boiler. The cocks might be stopped up or closed. 

Q. Under zchat circumstances can it be used to show the 
hight of zeater, if you cannot see the top line of zeater in the 
glass? 

A. If water-level is above top end of glass, open blow-out 
cock at bottom of glass. If water-level drops and then sud- 
denly raises when this blow-out cock is closed, the water is 
higher in the boiler than the glass will show. If below where 
it will show in glass, open throttle and start engine ahead 
quickly. The water will raise and show in the glass, but 
deaden the fire. 

Q. With zvhat class of valves are zeater-gage glasses gen- 
erally equipped? 

A. With automatic ones, which in case of a broken tube close 
and prevent hot water and steam escaping, thereby protecting 
its occupants and also saving the crown-sheet from burning, in 
case the breakage should occur when no one was in the cab. 

Q. To render unnecessarily drilling a number of holes in the 
boiler-head or shell for the various fittings, what is the best 
yjayf 

A. To have a steam-stand with holes for the injector-valves, 



136 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

cylinder-oil cups, blower-valve, steam-gage cock, and brake- 
valves. 

WATER LEVEL. 

Q. At what hight should the water be carried in a locomo- 
tive boiler? 

A. High enough to cover the crown-sheet about six inches ; 
so that when working, both water and steam should show at 
the top cock. 

Q. How much steam space should there be above the water 
level? 

A. There is no rule. The more that there is (other things 
being equal) the drier the steam will be, and the more satis- 
factory the boiler will steam. 

Q. What is the double effect of carrying the water too liighf 

A. Lessening both the steam room and the surface from 
which steam may disengage itself in rising from the body o£ 
the water into the steam space. 

Q. Why should the hight be uniform? 

A. Because carrying first high and then low water, unless 
for a special reason, is wasteful of fuel and hard on flues. 

Q. When is the time to use pumps and injectors? 

A. When there is a bright fire is the best, in fact the only 
time, unless there is special reason for otherwise doing. 

Q. How should the water be carried on, approaching an up 
grade? 

A. High, to keep the flues covered. 

Q. What should be done in case it is necessary to pump up 
on a descending grade? 

A. To have a bright fire. 

Q. What should be done as regards the tire on a descending 
grade? 

A. If no water is put in, the fire should be leveled and cov- 
ered to keep the steam-pressure down. 



WATER LEVEL. 



137 



Q. Is there any advantage in having the boiler moderately 
full when pulling out of a station or when starting a hard pull 
for a hill? 

A. Yes. 




Fig. 93. Rod Ends. 

Q. How should the water level be at the top of an up grade? 
A. Still high. 

Q. What is the advantage of starting down grade with full 
boiler? 

A. The injectors can be shut off and the boiler temperature 
kept uniform. 

0. If necessary to feed while the throttle is closed, what 
should be done? 

A. The blower put on, to prevent sudden lowering of boiler 
temperature. 

Q. What evil may accompany this? 

A. Loss of steam from blowing off. 

Q. Are enginemen likely to feed hard when working hard? 

A. No ; as this runs down the steam. 

Q. Are they likely to do it with closed throttle? 



138 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. Yes, because the circulation is less active and the steam 
pressure might remain high while the water chilled locally. 

Q. Are the temperatures of steam and water in the boiler 
the same? 

A. Yes, in those parts where the steam is in contact wifli 
the water-; but at certain places the water may be colder, and 
.. the steam hotter, than the average. 

Q. What advantage is claimed for carrying the water low? 

A. More steam room and less lifting of water. 

Q. Under what conditions is this safest? 

A. With light trains and on level roads and where the feed- 
ing appliances are thoroughly reliable. 

Q. What are the advantages of high water-level? 

A. The boiler can be kept at a more uniform temperature, 
and there may be less trouble in "negotiating" grades ; fur- 
ther, in case of failure of the feed there is more time to look 
into the difficulty. 

Q. Under what circumstances can the zvater- glass be used 
to show hight of water if you cannot see the top line of zvater 
in glass? 

A. By closing the top cock, or by suddenly opening out the 
throttle. 

Q. If gage-cocks are stopped up, or the water-glass cock 
tilled up so water does not come into glass freely, what is 
your duty? 

A. To report the matter at once and not take out the engine. 

Q. Is any more zvater used when an engine foams than 
when zvater carries well? 

A. Yes. 

0. What is the effect of using black oil in the boiler and 
through the injectors? 

A. It is apt to soften hard scale and to facilitate the injector 
working. 



WATER LEVEL. 139 

Q. Would you use valve-oil or lard oil for the same pur- 
pose? 

A. No; it would cause foaming. 

Q. What damage does it do to an engine to work water 
through the cylinders? 

A. Often breaks out packing-rings or knocks out cylinder- 
heads. ■ 

Q. Is it a good plan to let an engine slip at such times? 
A. No. 

Q. What is it liable to do? 

A. To break the cylinder-packing rings or cylinder-heads. 

O. Should the cngincman run by the glass gage or by the 
cocks? 

A. By neither alone. Either can give false indications. 
The one checks the other. 

Q. Why does the water-level rise when the throttle is 
opened? 

A. Because pressure is taken from the water, and the steam 
forms in greater quantities, lightening it. 

Q. How can zcater be found in the boiler if the n'ater drops 
belozc the bottom gage-cock? 

A. By suddenly opening the throttle or blowing the whistle. 

Q. When an engine is foaming badly, how must the true 
water-level be found? 

A. By first shutting off steam. 

Q. Which gage-cock is it most important to keep open and 
in perfect zcorking order? 
A. The lower one. 

Q. Does water remain at the same level zchen the throttle 
is shut off? 
A. No. 



140 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q.. What is the least depth of water on the crown-sheet that 
is safe? 

A. One gage. 

Q. How much zvater on the crown-sheet with one, two, 
and three gages respectively? 

A. Usually the gages are three inches above the sheet and 
•between each other. 

Q. Do you consider it safe to run an engine with one or 
more of the gage-cocks stopped up? 

A. No. 

Q. Is the water-glass safe to run by if the water-line in the 
glass is not moving up and down when the engine is in mo- 
tion? 

A. No. 

Q. If you were stopped on the road and found your water 
dropped out of sight, how would you try to raise it? 

A. By opening the blower or the throttle, so as to make 
something like working conditions. 

Q. Suppose that would not raise it to a safe hight, what 
would you do? 

A. Deaden, draw or dump the fire. 

Q. What should be done in case of failure of the zvater- 
supply in the tender? 

A. The train should be left and the engine and tender run 
to a water-tank, unless there was some stream, pond or other 
source of water that might be used. 

Q. What should be done in case the zvater in the tender got 
low, in time of snow blockade? 

A. The tender should be filled with snow, and this melted 
by the heaters. 

Q. What should be done in case of the tank-valve getting 
off its stem and dropping into the seat so as to keep the zvater 
out of the hose? 



THE WATER. 141 

A. The heater should be put on with full force for an in- 
stant, to drive the valve off the seat. 

0. Why not keep it on? 

A. For fear of bursting the hose. 

Q. Hozv rapidly should zcater be supplied to the boiler f 

A. As a rule, on levels, at the same rate at which it is 
evaporated; where, however, an up grade is to be taken, the 
feed should be shut off; at the crest the injector may be put on 
to prevent over-steaming. If there is a clown grade following, 
more feed may be put on than if there is a level at the top of 
the grade. 

0. Can a boiler explode if full of water? 

A. Yes ; especially in starting out. 

Q. Is injecting feed water on heated plates liable to cause 
an explosion? 

A. No. 

0. What would be likely to take place? 

A. Leakage at the seams. 

THE WATER. 

0. What is a bad effect of blowing out when hot? 

A. Baking on mud or other foreign substances. 

0. Hon' should a boiler be cooled down quickly? 

A. By blowing off the steam and replacing it with cold 
water ; then replacing the warm or hot water in the shell with 
cold. Or, running down two gages under forty pounds of 
steam, then cooling down gradually. 

0. What is an occasional source of grit in the water? 

A. Holes in the tank top, through which cinders and coal 
may fall and clog the strainers. 

0. What is a good rough test of the hardness of water? 

A. If it makes ordinary soap curdle instead of lather when 
washing therewith, it is unfit for boiler feeding. 



142 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. How can heavy mud deposits best be prevented? 

A. By frequent washing only. 

Q. How may water for locomotives be treated for carbonate 
of lime, sulphate of lime, and sulphuric acid? 

A. By lime and soda ash. 

Q. What is sometimes the effect of this treatment? 

A. To cause the boilers to foam. 

Q. What are the usual effects of limy water? 

A. Leaky heating-surface, and incrustations. 

Q. How. may leaky flues or stay-bolts be cured temporarily? 

A, By putting bran or potatoes in the feed-water, care be- 
ing taken not to put in enough to cause foaming, and not to 
depend on it longer than to get home with. 

Q. What is a good practical test of whether water in a tank 
is good enough for boiler-feeding? 

A. If it curdles instead of making a lather with ordinary 
soap, it is too hard for boiler use, and should not be employed 
if any other can be had within reasonable distance, and in 
sufficient quantity. 

Q. Do difficulties with bad water increase or decrease with 
the pressure? 

A. They increase; with low-pressure there is practically no 
difficulty in washing out the sediment. With high pressures 
the temperature of the water delivered by the injector is some- 
times so high that scale is deposited in the check valve and 
delivery pipe and in the injector delivery tube. 

THE SEPARATOR. 

Q. What is a separator? 

A. A device by which entrained water may be separated 
from the steam — -usually by wings or blades against which 
the steam impinges and which deflect and retard the water, 
while permitting the steam to pass. on. 



FEED PUMP. 143 

Q. Are separators much used? 

A. Very little; the dry pipe is made to serve this purpose, 
and the use of superheated steam will probably cause them to 
disappear altogether. 

Q. Why is it necessary to keep the cylinders free from 
water? 

A. Because if water, which is practically incompressible, 
were to come between the piston head and the cylinder head, 
the latter might be broken out. 

SAFETY PLUGS. 

Q. What is a safety-plug? 

A. A brass plug screwed into the crown-sheet at the point 
most likely to be burned, and having drilled through it a hole 
which is filled with an alloy that fuses at a temperature but 
slightly above that of the water and steam in the boiler at the 
highest pressure carried. Should the crown-sheet be left 
uncovered by reason of low water, and the plug be exposed to 
the fire, it will melt, and the steam will pass into the fire-box, 
not only giving warning but damping the fire ; thus enabling 
the crown-sheet to be saved. 

Q. Are these fusible plugs infallible? 

A. No; sometimes their composition changes so that their 
melting point rises ; sometimes they get covered over with scale 
so that they do not work. 

Q. Hon' often should they be renewed? 

A. Every tw T o or three months? 

THE FEED-PUMP. 

Q. What is the usual type of feed-pump for locomotives? 

A. There is a horizontal barrel with a plain round pole or 
plunger playing in a stuffing box. Below one end of this bar- 
rel is a suction-chamber, into the bottom of which the suction- 



144 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

pipe from the tank enters, and which contains a central pipe 
surrounded by an annular space serving as an air-chamber. 
Above the barrel and at the same end with the suction-chamber 
is a discharge-chamber through which projects a central dis- 
charge-pipe, leaving around it an annular air-chamber. Be- 
tween suction-chamber and barrel is an upward-opening valve ; 
between discharge-chamber and barrel is another upward- 
opening discharge-valve or pressure-valve ; each of these being 
an inverted cylindrical brass cup resting water-tight on a brass 
seat, and working in a cage guide. When the plunger is with- 
drawn from the barrel there is formed (if the joints are tight) 
a partial vacuum, which is filled (if the plunger does not 
return too quickly) ( by water from the tank, which rises 
through the suction-valve. When the plunger again enters 
the barrel this water is discharged through the pressure-valve 
into the boiler — or at least into the air-chamber and pipe 
between the pressure-valve and the boiler — displacing other 
water that is in the same line. At the end of the feed-pipe 
furthest from the pump is another upward-opening valve called 
a check-valve, serving as a check or extra precaution lest the 
pressure-valve should not be tight, or should be injured, or 
held from its seat by a chip or other piece of foreign matter. 
The check-valve may be either inside or outside the boiler. 
The horizontal pump-barrel has attached to it a top chamber 2 
(see Fig. 94), and a bottom chamber 3. The valves 4 above 
and below it are practically the same, and play in cages 5 
which may be readily detached from the pump-barrel and the 
chamber by running the nuts ofif the chamber-studs 10. Tfie 
plunger 6 plays through the gland 7 which is inserted in the. 
stuffing-box, and is held in by gland-studs 9. 

Q. Where are the pumps usually placed and driven? 

A. They are placed, usually, on the frames back of the 
cylinders, and driven direct from the crosshead ; although 
sometimes they are inside the frames and driven by a small 



FEED PUMP, 



145 




Pump Work. 

I. Pump-barrel. 2. Top-chamber. 3. Bottom- 
chamber. 4. Valve. 5. Valve-cage. 6. Plunger. 
7. Gland.- 8. Gland-bottom Ring. 9. Gland- 
studs. 10. Chamber-studs. 11. Check-pipe. 12. 
Check-pipe Coupling-nut. 13. Feed-pipe. 14. 
Feed-pipe Coupling-nut. 15. Pet-cock. 16. Pet-cock Lever in Cab. 17. Pet-cock Lever 
Fulcrum. 18. Pet-cock Lever-rod. 19. Pet-cock Lever-rod Guide. 20 Pet-cock Crank 
21. Pet-cock Crank-hanger. 22. Pet-cock Crank-rod. 23. Pet-cock Crank-jaw. 24. Pet- 
cock Lever-jaw. 



146 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

eccentric on one of the axles ; sometimes again, although very 
rarely, they are outside the wheels, and worked by a connect- 
ing-rod from a short crank attached to the crank-pin. 

Q. What name is given to crosshead-driven pumps? 
A. Full-stroke pumps. 

Q. What name is given to those worked by eccentrics from 
the driving-axles, or by cranks from the crank-pin? 
A. Short-stroke pumps. 

Q. Is the suction air-chamber always used? 

A. No; but it is desirable to relieve the suction-valve from 
shock. 

Q. Hozv can the pump be dismounted for examination of the 
valves? 

A. The pump-barrel and air-chamber are bolted together; 
breaking this joint and removing the air-chamber exposes the 
pressure-valve and cage. The suction air-chamber (or suc- 
tion-valve chamber where there is no suction-chamber) may be 
similarly taken down from the barrel. An outside check-valve 
may be taken out by breaking the bolt-and-nut joint which 
holds up its valve-seat. 

Q. What is the peculiarity of the locomotive feed-pump? 

A. Its plunger is working at all times, whether water is 
needed in the boiler or not ; making it necessary to have some 
means of controlling the supply. 

Q. As the pump runs all the time that the engine is working, 
but is not always feeding, how can it be told whether or not it 
is forcing water? , 

A. By the pet-cock on either the upper air-cylinder or the 
feed-pipe. The force of the stream which emerges from this 
when opened, enables the runner to estimate the amount of 
feed-water passing. 

Q. How is the supply of feed-zvater furnished by the pump 
regulated? 



FEED PUMP. 



147 



A. By a feed-cock in the suction-pipe, regulating the amount 
that can pass to the pump (see Figs. 94 and 95) ; also by the 
valves between tank and tender-hose. 

Q. What would be the result of over-feeding the boiler? 

A. The steam-space would be filled and water would get into 
the steam-pipes and be likely to wreck the cylinders. 

Q. What would be the result of under-feeding ? 

A. The crown-sheet and upper flues would be left uncovered 
with water and liable to be overheated, or, as it is called, 
burned. 





Fig- 95- FeecU water Work. 



1. Shaft. 2. Shaft-quadrant. 3, Shaft-handle. 4. Shaft-hanger. 5. Shaft-rod. 
6. Cock-shaft 7. Cock shaft Bearing. 8. Cock-shaft Hanger. 9. Cock. 10. Pipe- 
ciamp. 



148 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. Should the feed-cock plug extend through its case, or 
not? 

A. To prevent leakage it is better that it should not. 

Q. What is the use of a dip-pipe in the upper air-chamber? 

A. To prevent the chamber filling up with water, where the 
water is taken from the top. 

Q. At what part of the boiler should the feed-pump dis- 
charge? 

A. In the coolest part ; say one and one-half or two feet back 
of the front flue-sheet. 



&2ZZZZZZZZZ& 



\ZZ2ZZZZZZZZZZZ 




Fig. 96. Feed-cock. 

9. Feed-cock Body. 10. Feed-cock Plug and Nut. 11. Hose-coupling Nut. 
12. Hose-swivel. 13. Feed-pipe. 



Q. How is the pump prevented from freezing and bursting, 
in case the engine is lying by without steam on? 

A. By a frost-cock or bleeder on the lower air-chamber, to 
permit the water to be let out. A similar contrivance is usu- 
ally on the feed-pipe. 

Q. Hozv is the water in the pump, suction-pipe and tank 
prevented from freezing without being bled out? 

A. By heater-pipes communicating either with the steam in 
the boiler or with injectors, and discharging into the suction- 
pipe. 



FEED PUMP. 149 

O. Is there such a thing as "suction"? 

A. Indirectly there is. So-called "suction" takes place when 
the pressure in one direction upon the "sucked" or "drawn" 
fluid (be this fluid gaseous or liquid) is partly or entirely 
removed ; the unbalanced pressure in the opposite direction 
then forces the non-relieved fluid toward that portion thereof 
which has had the pressure thereon lessened. 

Q. What do you think about letting the fireman pump the 
engine? 

A. If he has judgment -enough about the firing, and as it is 
his back that gets the work of coal-shoveling, he should be 
let pump; but the present position of injectors would make it 
difficult. 

Q. What is the best way to pump an engine, to avoid leaky 
Hues? 

A. Fill the boiler at the start and pump light, in accordance 
with the steam demand. 

Q. Hozc should an engine be pumped — continuously from 
beginning to end of trip, or would you shut off the injector 
when pulling out after each stop? 

A. Shut off the injector when the throttle is opened to start, 
and start it again as soon as lever is hooked up after train is 
under way, or steam pressure begins to raise again. When 
pulling out after a stop the steam pressure must be kept up 
against a large amount being used by the cylinders, the fresh 
coal put in on a fire that has not been burning fiercely while 
engine was shut off, and supply of water put in by the injector. 
As water rises when the throttle is opened, with some engines 
it is an advantage to ease or shut off the injector for a minute or 
two at the instant of pulling out, and keep injector at work after 
shutting off, while fire is still burning fiercely, and thus save 
that heat which would make engine blow off. This method 
will help along a poor steamer; if it does that, it will help a 
^ood steamer burn less coal. 



150 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

0. How can the boiler be filled while the engine is being 
towed in? 

A. By plugging whistle and relief valves, screwing down 
the plugs over the injector overflow-valves, opening injector 
steam and water valves, shutting cylinder cocks, putting 
reverse lever down in the direction in which the engine is being 
towed, and opening the throttle. 

Q. How can one engine be pumped from another? 

A. i. By plugging all openings which would admit air into 
the boiler, opening throttle and steam and water connections 
to injectors or feed pump, setting the reverse lever for towing 
in one direction and getting towed fast enough to oil the 
valves through hand oilers. A vacuum being formed in the 
boilers by the air being pumped out, the water will flow in 
from the tender. 2. By connecting a hose from the delivery 
or overflow pipe of the live engine, and injector suction of the 
dead one, or even feeding through whistle, safety-valve, or 
wash-out plug. 

Q. How would you fill' the boiler and get the engine alive 
when fire is drawn on account of low water? 

A. If another engine was handy, get her to pump my engine 
up; otherwise take out the safety-valve and fill with pails. 

Q. What are the advantages of pumps over injectors? 

A. The water-supply is exactly proportioned to the steam- 
consumption as long as the cut-off is kept the same. 

Q. What are the disadvantages? 

A. Feeding can not be done when the engine is standing 
still ; the water is fed cold. 

THE CHECK VALVE. 

Q. What enables removing the pump for inspection or 
repair, while steam is on the boiler, or the latter is full of 
water? 

A. There is between it and the boiler a valve which, as it 



CHECK VALVE. 



151 



opens only in the direction of flow of the water from the 
pump to the boiler, permits the water to pass only in that direc- 
tion. Fig. 97 shows a pump-check composed of a check-body i 




Pump-check. 



i. Check-bccty. 2. Check-flange. 3. Check-flange Studs. 4. Valve. 5. Valve-seat. 
6. Valve-cage. 7. Casing. S. Check-pipe Coupling-nut. 

and flange 2, held together by check-flange studs 3. The 
valve 4 contained in the valve-cage 6 seats itself on the valve- 
seat 5 ; the whole being surrounded by a casing 7 and attached 
by a check-pipe coupling-nut 8.' 

0. Where is it usual for such a check-valve to be placed; 9 

A. Outside the boiler, in the feed-pipe. 

0. What is the objection to an outside check-valve? 

A. It is liable to be knocked off in a collision or other acci- 
dent; and in this case there would be an escape of hot water, 
followed by steam, which is liable to injure the engineer and 
fireman or other persons, and also tends to cripple the boiler. 

0. Where, then, should the check-valve be placed? 



152 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. Just inside the shell, where the feed-pipe discharges 
into it. 

Q. Why are boiler checks set so far ahead? 

A. So that the cooler water of the lower temperature will 
enter as far as possible from the firebox and work from the 
point of least evaporation to where the greatest evaporation 
is taking place; this helps out the circulation and reduces the 
strains from expansion and contraction when the feed is 
increased or diminished. 




Boiler Check. 



INJECTOR. 153 

Q. What is a common trouble of inside-hinged boiler checks? 
A. Tendency to stick open. 

Q. How can an inside check be made that will not have this 
disadvantage? 

A. As in Fig. 98, where there is an angle poppet valve with 
a finger which limits its lift ; this being the P. RR. standard. 

THE INJECTOR. 

0. IV hat is an injector? 

A. An apparatus in which a jet condensed by water imparts 
to the latter its velocity, so that the final velocity of the com- 
bined steam and water is greater than that at which the water 
would issue from the boiler. This difference of energy in 
favor of the jet passing through the injector enables it to enter 
the boiler. 

0. In a general way, zchat are the two kinds of injectors? 

A. As "single tube" when they have a single set of nozzles, 
and as "double tube" when they have two sets ; one of the 
latter kind lifts the feed water and delivers it to the forcing jet, 
which latter imparts to the water enough velocity to cause it 
to enter the boiler. 

Q. IV hat are the essential parts of an injector? 

A. The nozzles, which force the water into the boiler, and 
the operating mechanism, such as the lifting, steam, and water 
valves, etc. 

0. What is the theory of the apparently paradoxical action 
of the injector by which steam from the boiler forces water 
against its own pressure? 

A. It is a question of velocity, not of pressure. At a given 
pressure, steam escaping from an orifice has a higher velocity 
(say 2,000 feet per minute) than water under the same pres- 
sure (say 150 feet). In issuing from the injector-nozzle the 
steam strikes the water that also enters the combining-tube ; 



154 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

condenses, and at the same time imparts to the feed-water, 
together with the condense, its own velocity, this driving it 
into the delivery tube ; and as this feed-water has a higher velo- 
city than water would have under the given steam pressure in 
issuing from the boiler, it can overcome the pipe friction, raise * 
the check-valve and enter the boiler against the water pressure. 
The continual condensation of the steam causes a vacuum, 
which new water rushes in, from the feed supply, to fill. 

Q, What follows in case the steam is not perfectly condensed 
in the combining-tube? 

A. In most so-called '"automatic" injectors, the steam will 
be broken and the apparatus will not lift on feed. 

Q. What is the object of the overflow tube? 
A. To relieve the injector of excess of feed- water or con- 
dense. 

Q. What is the combining-tube? 

A. A flared tube in which the streams of feed-water and 
condensed steam may mingle before passing on to the feed- 
pipe. 

Q. What is a lifting injector? 

A. One that will lift the water to the hight of the combin- 
ing-tube, from a source that is not under pressure. 

Q. What happens in case the ffozv of steam or water is 
cut off? 

A. They "break," get hot, and start again with difficulty. 

Q. What is a non-lifting injector? 

A. One which must have the water fed to it by gravity or 
under pressure, as from a water main. On a locomotive it 
must be placed below the level of the tender-tank bottom. 

0. What is a re-starting injector? 

A. A lifting injector that can work with a broken water-sup- 
ply stream, delivering anew each time that the water is 
supplied. 



INJECTOR. 155 

Q. What class of overflow have lifting injectors? 

A. Generally closed. 

Q. Which is better— a closed or an open overflow? 

A. The former has the advantage that it wastes no water, 
even when the pressure varies greatly. 

Q. What are the advantages of non-lifters? 

A. They run cooler than and do not get clogged with sedi- 
ment so soon as those of the lifting type. 

Q. How many types of lifting injectors are there? 

A. The principal ones are: I, single tube, non-starting; 2, 
double tube ; 3, re-starting. 

Q. What part of an injector wears out most quickly? 

A. The delivery-tube, owing to the high velocity of the 
water, and particularly if there is sand, mud, or grit in the 
water. 

Q. Which wiU drazv the hottest water — high-pressure or 
low-pressure steam; and zvhy? 

A. Low-pressure because more easily condensed than high. 

Q. What is one of the principal advantages of the injector 
over the pump? 

A. That it heats the feed-water. 

Q. Does this save coal? 

A. Not directly; but it saves boiler-sheets and also lessens 
the lowering of temperature caused by pumping in ice-cold 
water. 

Q. How may the injector be converted into a heater? 

A. By opening the feed-pipe cock, closing the overflow, and 
allowing a slight quantity of steam to pass through the start- 
ing-valve. 

Q. Which heat the n'ater the higher — lifting or non-lifting 
injectors? 

A. Non-lifting. The heat of the steam can not lift, heat, 
and force, all in maximum degree. Where the lift is greater, 



156 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

either the heating or the pressure against which the apparatus 
can force, will be less ; where the pressure against which the 
apparatus must force is greater, it can not lift so high nor heat 
so much. 

Q. With an ordinary injector, when too much steam is 
admitted, what is the effect? 

A. To draw air through the overflow opening, and cause the 
delivery of a stream of water mixed with air and with uncon- 
densed steam; and when excessive, the injector will "break." 

Q. What is the effect of giving too much water for the 
steam? 

A. To cause overflow. 

Q. When the injector does not work, what is the first thing 
to see to? 

A. Whether the relative amounts of steam and water sup- 
plies are tight; next whether the strainer is not choked; if 
it is neither of these causes a choke in the jet should be looked 
for. 

Q. What other causes of non-working of injectors are there? 

A. Steam leaking through the steam-valve or check-valve, 
so as to heat the injector-valve and cause it to jam; cocked 
injector-valve; grit under the check-valve, especially where 
this is horizontal. 

Q. What is the maximum temperature at which lifting injec- 
tors can deliver water in a boiler? 

A. About i6o° F. = about yi° C. 

Q. What happens in a re-starting injector, when the water 
breaks? 

A. The steam escapes into the air, thus making a continuous 
suction, which will hold and draw the valve when the supply 
is renewed. 

Q. Will it re-start if the overflozv be shut? 

A. No. 



INJECTOR. 157 

0. What is a sign of dirt in the delivery-tube or elsewhere 
in the injector? 

A. Steam passing into the tender. 

Q. What precaution should be taken with the tank-screen? 

A. To take it down, and clear it, if necessary, before each 
run. 

Q. What is the best sort of steam for an injector? 

A. Dry and saturated. 

Q. What may be said of the steam passages? 
A. They should be large enough to allow full boiler pressure 
at the steam nozzle. 

Q. What is the effect of wet steam on an injector? 

A. To cut the valve seats and nozzles. 

Q. What is the effect of superheated steam on an injector? 

A. To reduce its mechanical efficiency and its capacity. 

Q. What is the velocity of steam in different parts of the 
injector at 200 pounds pressure, at the smallest part of the 
nozzle? 

A. About 1 ,500 feet per second; increasing to 2,800 at the 
terminal floor, and reaching 3,847 feet at the time of impact 
with the water. 

Q. To what is the cutting action of salt or dirt in the injec- 
tor proportionate? 

A. To the velocity of the jet which carries it. 

Q. What will tend to prevent cutting the exterior and inte- 
rior surface of injector tubes with lime-bearing salts? 

A. Keeping them submerged in cold water. 

Q. How many checks should an injector have? 
A. Two ; one bolted or screwed to the main boiler shell, the 
other near the injector. 

Q. Should the delivery pipe be as large as the suction? 

A. No; there is always ample forcing power to overcome 



158 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

the valve and pipe resistance of 10 to 50 pounds counter- 
pressure. 

0. In an injector, what can be said of the area of the 
entrance to the combining tube? 

A. It should be small, so that the water shall have a high 
velocity during its contact with the steam. 

Q. What may be said of the area of the suction pipe and 
connections? 

A. It should be large, to reduce friction. 

Q. What may be said of the suction pipe? 
A. It should be short and direct with easy bends, and prefer- 
ably of copper. 

Q. Where should a lifting injector be placed? 
A. About six inches above the upper level of the water in 
the tank. 

Q. How tight should the suction pipe, hose, and connec- 
tions be? 

A. Under 30 pounds pressure. 

Q. On zvhat does the successful working of an injector 
depend? 

A. On the way it is piped, the size of the main steam and 
check-valves, tank-valve, strainer, suction hose, and water- 
ways. Wrong proportions of these with respect to those of 
the injector itself lead to dissatisfaction. 

Q. Where is the injector usually placed? 

A. On the side of the boiler, inside the cab, where it may 
be readily got at by the engineman. 

0. Should there be a check-valve between the injector and 
the boiler? 

A. By all means. 

0. What may be said about frequency of use of the injector? 

A. It is well to use it often in order to keep it in good order. 



INJECTOR. 



159 



Q. How may this be arranged where there are two injec- 
tors? 

A. One of them may be used when running, the other when 
standing still ; say, in the latter case, the left-hand one. 

Q. Where should an injector get its steam supply? 

A. Over that part of the boiler or dome which gives the 
driest steam. 




Fig. 99. Lengthwise Vertical Section, "Little Giant" Injector. 

Q. Will an injector work with compressed air instead of 
steam? 

A. No. An injector depends for its successful operation on 
the condensation of the steam at the moment it gives its force 
to the water while passing through the combining-tube. This 
steam changes into water after setting the stream of water in 
motion, goes into the delivery-tube with the rest of the 
water, and does not again resume its original volume (as 
steam) until again heated in the boilers. If compressed air 
were the moving power to force the stream of water through 
the combining-tube, it would not be condensed, but would 
expand to its original volume while passing through the space 
between the end of the combining-tube and the opening of the 
delivery, and the injector would break. This is what happens 
when there is a leak in the suction pipe, so that air is drawn 



160 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

in with the water; in fact, the introduction of air in consider- 
able quantities is fatal to the working of an injector, from 
whatever source it may come. 

Q. What is the effect of using an injector at lower steam 
pressures than those for which it is intended? 
A. Excess of water supply causes overflow. 

Q. What is the reason of an injector delivering more water 
•at low steam pressures? 

A. Too little water enters to condense the steam. 

Q. What is the effect of having too small an opening of the 
€ombining-tu be? 

A. The injector will not take hot water. 

Q. Why do some injectors break if the valve is throttled? 

A. The steam is not condensed; the overflow will not let 
it escape freely so that it blows back into the suction. 

Q. Where the steam-valve is too large, how can the injec- 
tor's working be improved? 

A. By throttling the steam-valve. 

Q. What is the effect of too large a steam-valve? 

A. Too much back pressure. 

Q. How can lime scale be removed from an injector? 

A. By pickling the parts in a ten per cent solution of muri- 
atic (hydrochloric, chlorhydric) acid. 

Q. What is a cause of the air not being able to get in the 
tender as fast as the water should leave it through the injector? 

A. Water splashing around, freezing all the top air-holes 
shut. 

Q. How can a non-lifting injector be helped? 

A. By shutting the throttle on boiler. 

Q. Hozv can the injector be prevented from freezing? 

A. By opening the frost-cocks and draining it and its pipe- 
line. 



INJECTOR. 161 

Q. Should both injectors be used? 

A. Yes, alternately, so as to be sure that both are in work- 
ing order. On heavy grades both will usually be needed. 

Q. How should a lifting injector be started? 

A. The lifting-valve should be opened, and when the water 
appears at the overflow, the forcing valve opened gradually to 
its full extent. 

Q. How should a non-lifting injector be started? 

A. The water should be admitted first to the apparatus, and 
when it appears at the steam overflow, the steam-valve should 
be opened gradually to its full extent. 

Q. Why are holes sometimes drilled in the combining-tube 
of an injector? 

A. To be a sort of auxiliary overflow to lessen the shock 
which takes place when the rapidly moving steam jet strikes 
and combines with the slow-moving body of w^ater. The water 
forced out of these holes eventually passes out of the main 
overflow. Their presence also enables the injector to w r ork 
with water a few degrees higher in temperature than if they 
were not there. 

Q. How can the injector be used to save fuel? 

A. By shutting it off when a hill is in sight, so as to save 
the steam which it would otherwise use ; and when the crest is 
reached, starting it at full capacity to check steaming. 

Q. What is the difference between feeding with the injector 
and feeding with the pump? 

A. As the latter delivers cold water, and the former uses 
hot, the injector may be used where the pump would chill the 
boiler. 

Q. Under what conditions can an injector be used continu- 
ously? 

A. Where it has a wide range of capacity and the road is 



162 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

straight and level, with the feed throttled, without the jet 
breaking. 

Q. Will an injector work zuith an air pressure the same as 
with steam; that is, if you had a full head of air pressure in 
boiler and no steam at all, could you work the injector? 

A. Not as a boiler feeder, against the pressure of the boiler 
supplying the air. For an injector to work against the press- 
ure equal to that which supplies it with motive fluid, the matter 
that gives velocity to the jet of water must lose its identity by 
condensation ; and air is not condensable. 

Q. Would an injector using air as a motive -fluid force air, 
water, or light solids against a less pressure than that which 
drives it? 

A. Yes ; such injectors are in common use as blowers, spray- 
ers, ash ejectors, etc. 

Q. What is the usual limit of reliable lift of a locomotive 
injector? 

A. About seven feet. 

Q. Which is more easily kept in order in cold weather — an 
injector or a pump? 

A. An injector. 

Q. Which works best with sandy water — a pump or an 
injector? 

A. An injector; although the action of the sand eventually 
cuts the nozzles so that their form and size is changed and the 
apparatus will then not work so well. 

Q. If the tender tank were air-tight and the injector put to 
work, would it make any difference in the operation of the 
injector when a vacuum is created in the tank? 

A. The injector would not work properly, and would be sub- 
ject to breakage. On many roads where they used "to have a 
wooden lining for the lid of the tank, it was necessary to keep 
the lid raised a little to make the injector work properly. 



INJECTOR. 



163 



Q. Describe the Sellers locomotive injector, 1903 model. 

A. As seen in Fig. 100, there is a main casing 25, with 
steam-supply pipe 19a, water-supply pipe 23, overflow-pipe 
57, and feed-pipe. The steam nozzle 3, controlled by the 
spindle 7, delivers steam to the combining-tube 2 and the 
heated stream passes through the delivery tube i ? issuing 
axially. The water supply is controlled by the valve 17; the 
overflow by the valve 30 ; there is a check-valve 20 to prevent 
return of water from the boiler. 




Fig. 100. The Sellers Injector. 



Q. How is this injector started when lifting the water? 

A. By pulling out the lever 33. 

Q. How is it shut off? 

A. By pushing in the same lever. 

0. Hozu is the quantity of feed regulated? 

A. By the water-valve 17. 

Q. How is it used as a heater? 

A. By closing the waste-valve 30 by the lever 34, and draw- 
ing the starting-lever 33. 

Q. What special precaution is necessary in starting with hot 
water? 



164 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. To draw the lever 33 slowly. 

Q. What is the minimum capacity as compared with its 
maximum? 

A. Forty per cent as much. 

Q. What is a double-tube injector? 
« A. One having one set of tubes to lift or draw the watei 
and deliver it to a second set which forces it into the boiler. 

Q. What is the advantage claimed for the use of. a special 
set of lifting tubes? 

A. That it acts as a governor to the forcing tubes, deliver- 
ing the proper amount of water for the condensation of the 
steam, thus enabling the apparatus to work under greater 
ranges of steam pressure, water temperature, and amount of 
feed delivered. 

Q. What is the most difficult service for an injector? 
A. High steam pressure, superheated steam and hot supply 
water. 

Q. Describe the Hancock inspirator of the "composite" type. 

A. Referring to Fig. 101, for the lifter, the suction-pipe 113a, 
regulating valve in one piece with its spindle 105, and con- 
trolled by the wing nut 140, steam nozzle, 101, combining-tube 
102, overflow nozzle 108. For the forcer the steam-valve on 
its stem 146, controlled by the lever 138, steam nozzle 103, 
combining-tube 104, line check-valve in. For both, the steam 
supply-pipe 113b. 

Q. In a boiler, what is the comparative temperature of the 
steam and the water? 

A. Both alike, so long as the circulation is good and there is 
no superheating. 

Q. Which will do the most work — a pound of water, a 
pound of saturated steam, or a pound of superheated steam, at 
the same temperature? 

A. The pound of superheated steam. 



INJECTOR. 



165 



Q. Which next? 

A. The pound of saturated steam. 

Q. What would be the initial velocity of a jet of saturated 
steam at 180 pounds boiler pressure? 
A. About 3,600 feet per second. 




Fig. 101. The Hancock Inspirator. 

Q. What would be the initial velocity of a jet of water at 
180 pounds pressure? 

A. About 164 feet a second; say 1/32 that of the saturated 
steam at the same pressure and temperature. 

Q. What is the tendency of a steam jet after emerging from 
a nozzle? 



166 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. To enlarge rapidly. 

Q. What velocity must a water- jet have to enter a steam 
boiler under 180 pounds pressure? 
A. A trifle over 164 feet per second. 

Q. Suppose a pound of steam at a velocity of 3,600 feet a 
second is condensed by 10 pounds of water at a velocity of 
40 feet a second, what would be the velocity of the combined 
stream y supposing they met in the line of discharge? 

A. 3,600 + (40 X 10) divided by 11 ; that is, 366 feet per 
second. 

Q. Assuming that half of this velocity is lost on account of 
friction and imperfect mingling, what would be the pressure 
exerted by the stream? 

A. About 206 pounds per square inch. 

Q. Would this be sufficient to enable the stream to force its 
way into the boiler under 180 pounds of steam? 

A. Certainly ; with 26 pounds to spare for friction in feed- 
pipes, etc. 

Q. How much pozver is required to run an injector that 
delivers 3,000 gallons an hour? 

A. With ordinary pressures, from 65 to 120 H.P. ; that is, 
from 8 to 15 per cent of the power of the engine. 

Q. But does not the heat that this power represents go back 
into the boiler? 

A. Yes ; but it is not yet in condition to be used in the cylin- 
ders. There is enough heat in a locomotive boiler full of water 
at 200° F. to run a small engine, if it were put into a smaller 
weight of steam at 300° F. ; but as it is, locked up in the water, 
it is useless for immediate power purposes in a steam-engine 
cylinder unless the engine were used merely as a water motor. 

Q. What is one of the principal uses of a good injector? 

A. To regulate the steaming; being taken off on up grades 
and put on on down grades. 



THE FEED. 167 

Q. Will an injector deliver more cold water, or more hot, 
per pound of steam of any given temperature? 

A. More cold. 

Q. With increase in steam pressure and temperature, what 
change should be made in the supply water temperature? 

tA. It should be colder. 
__ 
Q. Where is the feed usually introduced, and why? 
A. Pretty well forward, so that the cold entering feed-water 
will not strike the hot part of the boiler. 

Q. What would be the result of introducing the feed-ivater 
right on the fire-box sheets? 

A. To crack them by sudden cooling and contraction. 

Q. What is usually the best hight to carry zvater? 
A. At such a hight that the top try-cock will show both 
water and steam. 

Q. Why not carry water so that it will show solid at the top 
try-co.ck? 

A. Because there would be no knowing whether there was 
J4 inch or 3 inches of water above the cock. 

Q. How should water be carried in approaching a down 
grade? 

A. There should be enough to keep the crown-sheet covered 
on the grade. 

Q. // you should strike a down grade and show both steam 
and water in the lower gage, what should be done? 

A. The feed put on and the fire kept bright. 

Q. What would be the residt of putting on the feed with 
low water and not keeping the fire bright? 

A. The flues would be apt to be made to leak. 

*See also under " Tank,' ' "Pumps," and " Injectors." 



168 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. Does it make much difference zvhat kind of water loco- 
motive boilers get? 

A. A great deal. If acid it tends to corrode the boiler on the 
inside ; if it has much mineral matter in solution this is dropped 
when evaporation takes place, and becomes baked on the shell 
and tubes as a stony scale; if there is undissolved vegetable 
or mineral matter, this is deposited on the bottom as slush and 
sometimes is baked on. 

Q. How can acid get in the water? 

A. The water from streams in the Pennsylvania coal-mining 
regions is impregnated with sulphuric acid ; the same or similar 
causes produce similar results elsewhere. 

Q. Would alkaline water be an advantage? 

A. Not usually, because the dissolved alkali would be depos- 
ited on the shell when the water was evaporated. There are, 
however, cases where by using an acid water from one station 
and an alkaline from another, one will counteract the other; 
but it is not well to trust to any such luck. 

Q. When should the injector be on, and when off? 

A. On between stations, but not in pulling out, when more 
steam is used. It also lessens the smoke nuisance. 

Q. What has been the experience with feed-zvater heaters? 

A. That their cost has been greater than the saving effected ; 
so that their use has been abandoned. 

BLOW-OFFS. 

Q. How may loose mud and other loose dirt be removed 
from a locomotive boiler? 

A. Through large blow-off cocks near the bottom of the 
fire-box, and which may be opened when steam is on, thereby 
letting much of such loose material be blown out. 

Q. How is the remainder removed? 

A. By hand-holes or mud plugs in the fire-box corners near 



SAFETY VALVE. 169 

the bottom; sometimes also by a hand-hole at the bottom of 
the front tube-sheet. By this the mud may be loosened and 
much of it removed, and a hose used to clean out the loose 
material. 

Q. When the check-valve is near the front of the boiler, as 
usually the case, what may be said about the blow-off cocks? 

A. There should be one right under the check-valve, by 
which to blow off the material that has dropped under it. 

Q. What is the blow-off cock usually like? And where is it 
placed? 

A. A plug valve having a large opening and usually screwed 
into the front water leg, but sometimes into the back head 
above the crown-sheet. 

THE SAFETY-VALVE. 

Q. What is to prevent the boiler blowing up, in case steam 
is made faster than used? 

A. Up to a certain point, the evaporation of a greater weight 
of water than is passed out as steam, causes increase of press- 
ure ; this would continue until all the water was evaporated, or 
the pressure got too great for the boiler to stand. To pre- 
vent the boiler bursting or exploding, there is a large valve, 
opening from the steam-space and held down by a spring, the 
tension of which is adjustable so that the valve will lift when 
the pressure upon it from below reaches a certain point, very 
much below the safe working-pressure of the boiler. When 
the steam-pressure reaches the point at which the valve is set to 
blow, there is discharge of steam ; and if the valve has suf- 
ficient to let through all the steam that the boiler can make, 
there will be no explosion. In order to diminish the chances 
of explosion there are often two of these valves side by side, 
set to blow at the same or about the same pressure. 

Q. What is to prevent the cngineman sere-wing down the 



170 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

safety-valve so as to give more steam pressure than he would 
otherwise have; or what is to prevent some malicious person 
rendering the boiler liable to explosion by doing the same 
thing unknown to the engine-runner? 

A. One of the valves is usually arranged so that the spring 
which holds it down cannot be readily got at to change the 
pressure at which the valve will blow. 

Q. What precaution should be taken as to that safety-valve 
which is held dozvn by a lever and not locked ? 

A. It should be raised daily, to insure that the disk is not 
corroded on the seat, or otherwise inefficient. 

Q. How may the pressure in the boiler be relieved if neces- 
sary, before the safety-valve blozvs? 

A. By lifting the safety-valve by the relief-lever. 

Q. What is the advantage of the ordinary safety-valve with 
long lever f 

A. Without leaving the cab it may be readily adjusted to 
blow at any desired pressure. 

Q. What is the advantage of the "pop" safety-valve? 

A. It gives larger discharging-area than the ordinary valve. 

Q. How is the Crosby pop safety-valve constructed? 

A. The valve rests on two flat ring-shaped seats lying in the 
same plane and forming part of the shell, which is in two parts, 
an inner and an outer cylindrical chamber, connected by hollow 
horizontal radial arms between which the steam passes, acting 
on that part of the valve which shows above and between the 
two valve-seats. (See Fig. 102.) 

Q. How is the noise of steam which escapes from the safety- 
valve lessened, to prevent frightening horses when trains are 
standing at stations, and from being a general nuisance? 

A. By a muffler, one form of which consists of a wire coil 
through the interstices of which the steam escapes, making 
much less noise than where it has to pour through a more 



LAGGING. 171 

contracted area. Other mufflers are made of boxes full of 
glass beads or of similar substances offering an immense 
amount of friction with large discharging-area. Some, again, 




Fig. 102. Crosby Locomotive Fig. 103. Meady Muffled Locomo- 
Pop Safety-valve. tive Pop Safety-valve. 

have a central vertical pipe with a large number of L-shaped 
tubular branches pointing upward. In all, the principle is the 
same : to give the steam a very large area of escape, divided 
up into as many jets or sheets as possible. (Fig. 103.) 

LAGGING. 

Q. How is radiation from the boiler lessened? 

A. By lagging the boiler and dome with a non-conductor 
of heat, as wood strips, and covering these with a Russia-iron 
jacket; sometimes by covering with wool felt, then with 
wood strips and Russia iron; sometimes by asbestos cloth or 
some plastic material, as magnesia cement and Russia iron. 



172 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What are the advantages of magnesia lagging? 
A. It does not char, as do felt and wood, nor get hot, as does 
asbestos, and may be removed for inspection purposes. 

Q. How are fire-boxes lagged in the L. S. & M. S. Rail- 
way? 

A. A sheet of asbestos is placed next the hot surface, and 
over that placed a covering of hair felt one inch thick, the 
whole kept in place by a sheeting of kalamein or planished 
iron; the boiler-heads being done the same way. 

MUD DRUM AND HAND-HOLES. 

Q. What provision is necessary where the water is very 
impure ? 

A. A mud-drum — a wrought-iron cylinder below the boiler, 
usually at the front end, and having a blow-off cock and a 
removable cast-iron bottom cover. There being in this drum 
but little water-circulation, most of the mud and scale col- 
lects there, instead of being burned on the sheets of the main 
shell. 

Q. How may hard mud and scale be removed? 

A. Either (i) through oval hand-holes in the corners of 
the fire-box, near the bottom, and closed with two plates, one 
inside and the other outside, connected and fastened with a 
bolt, or (2) through holes in which are screwed mud-plugs. 
After as much as possible has been scraped out through these 
holes, a hose may be inserted and a strong stream of water 
used to slush out other material not within reach of scrapers. 

THE WHISTLE. 

Q. How does the steam-whistle act? 

A. There is an inverted cylinder, cup or bell of thin metal, 
with a sharp circular edge, against which an annular sheet of 
steam is discharged from an annular orifice; the force of the 
escaping steam causes the bell or cup to vibrate and give out 



THE THROTTLE. 



173 



a musical tone, the pitch of which depends on the diameter and 
the depth of the cup. (Fig. 104.) 

Q. What is the advantage of the chime 
whistle? 

A. Its sound is less disagreeable than that of 
one giving only a simple tone, as it produces a 
pleasing chord of three tones. 

Q. How is this triple effect produced? 

A. By the bell being divided lengthwise into 
three compartments of different lengths. The 
shortest gives the highest tone. 




Fig 104. 

Chime 
Whistle. 



THE MUFFLER. " 

Q. What is a muffler? 

A. A device by which the steam which escapes from the 
safety-valve is quieted; necessary where the shrill noise of 
the escaping steam would produce prejudice against the com- 
pany or injury to the community within hearing. 

Q. How is it constructed? 

A. By having instead of one orifice for the steam, numbers 
of small slits or holes, or letting it pass through a chamber 
filled with glass balls. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of the muffler? 

A. It causes back-pressure, gets clogged and has to be 
cleaned out, which is a difficult operation. 

THE THROTTLE. 

Q. How* is the steam admitted to the steam-chest, or cut off 
therefrom? 

A. By the throttle-valve, usually placed at the end of the 
throttle-pipe or vertical extension of the dry-pipe, in the dome, 
where there is one ; although sometimes in the , front end 
of the horizontal part of the dry-pipe, particularly where there 
is no dome. 



174 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. How are throttle-valves at present usually made? 

A. When in the dome, of double poppet-valves, consisting 
of two disks on a stem, and covering corresponding openings 
in the case with which the pipe ends. Moving the valves and 
the stem lengthwise of the latter either closes the disks against 
the circular openings or removes them therefrom, leaving 
annular openings through which the steam flows. 

Q. When in the smoke-box what is their character? 
A. Plain slides. 

Q. Why is the double-poppet form of throttle-valve chosen 
for the dome? 

A. Because the steam pressure on one disk balances that on 
the other, instead of there being, as where slide-valves are 
used, an unbalanced pressure in one direction, tending to make 
it difficult either to open the valve or to close it. Also, it 
delivers drier steam. 

Q. Are the disks of the same size, and does the pressure on 
one exactly balance that on the other? 

A. No; each disk must be larger than the opening which 
it closes, and one must be small enough to pass through the 
opening which the other covers. This being the case, the 
upper disk is the larger, and the pressure is not quite balanced, 
there being a tendency to keep the valve closed, which is of 
advantage, after steam has been shut off. 

Q. Hozv is this valve, which is in the steam space, opened 
and closed? 

A. By the throttle-lever, which is connected by the throttle- 
stem with the lower arm of a bell-crank, the upper arm of 
which is connected by a rod with the valve-stem. The throttle- 
stem works through a stuffing-box in the back end of the 
boiler; being enabled to work in a straight line through the 
stuffing-box by a small vibrating link. (See Fig. 105.) 

Q. How is the throttle-lever held in any desired position? 



THE THROTTLE. 



175 



A. Usually by a latch gearing 
into a sector and operated by a 
trigger connected to the latch by 
a rod. 

Q. What is the objection to the 
ordinary throttle-lever having 
two links back of the fulcrum, 
and a quadrant and clamp? 

A. It requires two hands, this 
being inconvenient and at times 
objectionable. 

Q. What would be better than 
the clamping-rig? 

A. A notched sector or quad- 
rant such as used with the re- 
verse-lever, but with notches 
of saw-tooth style so as to per- 
mit the throttle to be very 
quickly closed and prevent it 
from being jarred open. (See 
Fig. 105.) 



law** 1 



^nt lt 




Fig. 105. Throttle Work. 

1. Iyever. 2. Quadrant. 3. Latch. 4. Latch-link. 5. Rod. 6. Jaw. 7. Iyink. 

8. Link-stud. 9. Handle. 10. Handle-spring. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of such a throttle-lever sector? 

A. If the teeth are coarse enough to be strong, the intervals 
between them may be too great to permit as fine adjustment 
as is desirable. 



176 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. How is the steam carried from the dome {where there 
is one) to the cylinders? 

A. It passes through a vertical pipe called the throttle-pipe, 
which reaches up into the dome and draws the steam from 
where it is driest. In this its passage is controlled by the 
throttle-valve, then it goes into a horizontal dry-pipe, extend- 
ing from the throttle-pipe to the front tube-plate, at which 
point, in the smoke-box, it divides; two curved pipes (called 
steam-pipes) or a forked pipe (called a T-pipe) taking it to 
the cylinders. 

Q. Of what material are throttle-pipes made? 

A. Cast-iron. 

Q. Why not make the throttle-valve of brass? 

A. Because the pipe being of cast-iron the difference of 
expansion in the two metals would make a valve leak under 
high-pressure steam if tight under low, or vice versa. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of too small a throttle-pipe? 

A. The steam is wire-drawn. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of having too large a throttle- 
pipe? 

A. There is between the throttle-valve and the cylinders 
too much steam, which requires to be worked off before the 
engine will stop. 

Q. Where is the throttle-valve placed? 

A. As high as possible, to avoid getting entrained water 
and thus to lessen priming. 

Q. What is the result, on the water level, of opening the 
throttle? 

A. To raise it one gage or more. 

Q. What is the cause of this? 

A. The pressure on the water-surface is diminished, and 
the steam bubbles can expand more freely. 

Q. What is the Chambers throttle? 



THE THROTTLE. 



177 



A. As shown in Fig. 106, the two seats are separate, 
fitting together as shown and acting as a solid valve, while 
allowing for expansion and adjustment. The projection on 
lower seat extends 1-32 inch through the upper seat, and the 
movement is limited to this amount by a washer on the stem, 
as shown. 




Fig. 106. The Chambers Throttle. 

Q. How may a throttle valve be thoroughly tested for tight- 
ness? 

A. By fastening it down, removing the relief-valve or the 
chest, connecting with steam heat hose there and putting on 
steam. 

Q. Why not use water instead of steam? 

A. The steam expands the parts to working condition. 



DRY-PIPE AND STEAM-PIPES. 



Q. From what point in the steam-space is the steam taken 
to supply the cylinders? 



178 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. Where there is a dome, it is taken from that by what 
is known as the dry-pipe, extending along through the steam- 
space in the boiler shell to the front tube-plate, through which 
it passes ; being divided at its front end, inside the smoke-box, 
into two curved steam-pipes leading to the steam-chests. 

Q. Why is the steam drawn from the dome? 

A. Because it is the highest point and there is less liability 
of drawing entrained water over with the steam; also (in 
American locomotives) because it is usually quite far back, 
near the fire-box, where the steam is hottest ; and further, 
because at that point the throttle may be more readily placed 
and manipulated. 

Q. What special trouble is there zvith the T-pipe branches? 

A. They are very difficult to keep tight, by reason of their 
being subjected to great and frequent changes of temperature 
and thus being expanded and contracted. Also, the lack of 
rigidity of American engines makes it difficult to keep them 
tight, independently of expansion and contraction. 

Q. Hozv.are flexibility and expansibility provided for in the 
steam-pipes? 

A. By connecting them with so-called ball joints — their 
ends being flanged and also one turned spherically convex and 
the other spherically concave, with the same radius, so that 
one may play upon the other without marring the joint. 

Q. In what direction does this ball- joint arrangement pro- 
vide flexibility? 
A. Laterally only. 

Q. Hozv is movement in an up-and-dozvn direction provided 
for? 

A. By a false end on one of the pipes, this false end having 
one side spherically convex and the other plane, so that it 
may slide up and dow T n on the end of the pipe ; or by having 



FOAMING AND PRIMING. 179 

such a sliding device at one end of the pipe and a ball- joint at 
the other. 

FOAMING AXD PRIMING. 

Q. What causes foaming in the boiler? 

A. Oil, alkali, or other matter, causing the water to froth, 
like soap-suds ; large throttle, dry-pipe, steam-pipe and ports, 
together with a small dome. 

0. What is a sign of foaming? 

A. Water showing at the stack, particularly if coupled with 
the valves pulling the lever or with squeaking valves or pis- 
tons. 

Q. If zvater should show at the stack, what should be done? 

A. The throttle should be closed and the water-level allowed 
to settle, to permit finding out whether the show of water was 
due to overpumping or to foaming. 

Q. What is priming in a boiler? 
A. Lifting of water in a body. 

Q. What causes priming? 

A. Too little liberating-surface at the top of the water. 
Q. What zcould be the test in this case? 
A. Sinking of the water to the lowest gage after the throttle 
was closed would be a sign of foaming. 

Q. What is the effect of foaming on zvatcr consumption? 

A. To increase it. 

Q. What other evil effects has it? 

A. To cause breakage of cylinder heads, packing-rings, etc. ; 
also to take the oil ofif rubbing surfaces and increase friction 
and cutting. 

Q. Should an engine be alloz^ed to slip to get the water out 
of the passages? 
A. By no means. 
Q. What should be done to stop foaming? 



180 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. The feed should be put on, and the surface blow-off 
started. 

Q. What should be done in case of foaming, not as a matter 
of prevention of the evil but as a measure of safety to the 
engine? 

A. The cylinder-cocks should be opened, to prevent the 
heads being knocked out by the excess of water. 

Q. How may oil in the tank be got rid of? 

A. By overflowing it for considerable time, coupled with 
use of the heaters. 

Q. What is the danger when the boiler foams badly? 

A. Burning the crown-sheet, cutting the valves, breaking the 
piston-packing rings, or knocking out cylinder-heads. 

Q. In case of foaming zvhat should be done? 

A. First it should be seen whether the foaming was by 
reason of soap, oil, or alkali in the boiler, or by reason of too 
much water; then if by reason of foreign material in the 
boiler (as would be shown by the try-cocks), with the throttle 
shut off, the surface-cock should be opened to let the foul 
water blow off, and the injectors or pumps put on to keep up 
the level. If by doing this the engine would not get to work- 
ing rightly, and the water should still discharge from the stack, 
the fire should be drawn or damped to save the boiler. If 
necessary to keep running and the boilers did not seem in 
danger, the cylinder-cocks should be opened to save the heads ; 
the throttle closed slowly and the water-level tried. If there 
is a surface blow-off it should be opened. If there is insuf- 
ficient water supply the pumps or injector should be set to 
work. The throttle should be slowly and slightly opened and 
the foul water worked through the cylinders, the hight of 
water being tried then with closed throttle. 

Q. What should be donb to remedy foaming caused by 
grease in the tank? 



SATURATED AND SUPERHEATED STEAM. 181 

A. The tank should be overflowed the first chance that there 
is to get water. A couple of quarts of unslaked lime put in 
will help matters; or a piece of bluestone (sulphate of copper, 
blue vitriol, which may be had at almost any local telegraph 
office) will aid if put in the hose back of the screen, if there 
has been no lime or other alkali used. 

Q. Why should the throttle be closed slowly, in case of 
foaming? 

A. To keep the water from dropping suddenly below the 
crown-sheet in case there was an insufficient quantity. 

Q. Why open the surface-cock in case of foaming? 

A. Because foaming is usually caused by grease, which will 
be floating on the water and which may be blown off by the 
surface-blow 7 . 

Q. Why is lime put in the tank in case of foaming by reason 
of greasy water t 

A. It neutralizes the grease. 

SATURATED AND SUPERHEATED STEAM. 

Q. What is saturated steam? 

A. That with just enough heat to keep it from condensing. 

Q. What is dry steam? 

A. Properly speaking, saturated steam; usually, however, 
that which has not over two per cent of entrained water. 

Q. What is superheated steam? 

A. That which has been heated, when not in contact with 
water, hence has a higher temperature than saturated or dry 
steam at the same pressure. 

Q. What is the advantage of superheating? 

A. Carrying more of the heat of the fire into the cylinders, 
there to do mechanical work. 

Q. Can superheated steam part with heat without being con- 
densed? 



182 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. Yes, up to that point where it has the temperature cor- 
responding to saturated steam of the given pressure. 

Q. What are the disadvantages of using saturated steam? 

A. i, Ordinary valve gears, with high speeds and early cut- 
offs (say i-io or under) have too much compression and too 
little initial pressure, hence too little power ; 2, cylinder con- 
densation increases with the diameter; 3, with large cylinders 
where the initial pressure is too high it cannot be sufficiently 
throttled; whereas at low boiler pressure the steam tempera- 
ture is too low. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of very high pressures of 
saturated steam, used in either compound or non-compound 
engines? 

A. Too hard on the fire-box, and especially on the stay-bolts, 
thus increasing the cost of maintenance and repair. 

Q. Is the average temperature of the steam in the boiler the 
same as that of the water? 

A. It should be ; and it is when the circulation is good ; but 
there may be short intervals when the water is colder than the 
steam, by reason of overfeeding, etc. 

Q. What is the temperature of saturated or ordinary steam 
at 140 pounds pressure? 

A. 361 deg. F. 

Q. How many British heat {or thermal) units does, one 
pound of it contain? 

A. 1,192. 

Q. What is its volume? 

A. 2.92 cubic feet. 

Q. How many B. H. U. (or B. T. U.) would be necessary 
to heat it to 680 deg. F.? 

A. 153. 

Q. What would be its volume then if allowed to expand? 

A. 4.06 cubic feet. 



SATURATED AND SUPERHEATED STEAM. 18& 

Q. Its pressure, if the volume remains the same? 

A. 210 pounds. 

Q. Whicli increases, pressure or volume, in the locomotive 
boiler? 

A. The volume. 

Q. What then would be gained by this superheating? 

A. By adding only 12.8 per cent more heat, 39 per cent of 
volume. 

Q. At what temperature is superheated steam now worked 
in locomotives? 

A. 66o° F. in the cylinders. 

Q. What is the highest "Hash- point" of lubricant, attainable? 

A. 780 to 790 F. 

Q. What are the temperatures of saturated or dry steam at 
various pressures from 75 pounds to 200 pounds per square 
inch? 

A. The following short table gives them both in Fahrenheit 
and in Centigrade (also called Celsius) degrees: 

Pressure 
above 
. vacuum. 
Pounds. 

75 

90 

100 

115 
125 
140 

150 
165 
175 
190 
200 



Temperature 


(approx.) 


Fahr. 


Cent. 


307-5 


*53° 


320.2 


160 


327-9 


164 


338 


170 


344-2 


173 


352.9 


178 


358.3 


181 


366 


186 


370.8 


188 


377-5 


192 


381.7 


194 



184 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. How about the temperatures at pressures above atmos- 
phere {boiler pressures)? 

A. Subtract 14.7 pounds (roughly, 15 pounds) from 
pressures reckoned from vacuum. 

Q. What have we to do with Centigrade degrees? 

A. We should be able to read and understand books and 
reports from other countries where this system is used, and if 
sent to such countries to understand their units. Further, the 
Centigrade system is making headway in America. 

Q. What is the rule for reducing Fahrenheit to Centigrade 
degrees? 

A. Subtract 32 and take 5/9 of the remainder. Thus: 
212 F.= (212 — 32) X 5-^-9=100° C. 

Q. What is the rule for reducing Centigrade degrees to 
Fahrenheit? 

A. Take 9/5 of the sum and add 32. Thus : 180 C. = (180 
X 9 + 5 =324) + 32 = 356° F. 

Q. What are the freezing points on these two kinds of 
thermometer? 

A. Fahrenheit 32 , Centigrade o°. 

Q. The boiling points of water? 

A. Fahrenheit 212 , Centigrade ioo°. 

Q. Is superheated steam a better or a poorer conductor of 
heat than saturated? 

A. A poorer. 

Q. How much of its weight does saturated steam lose by 
cylinder-condensation at usual cut-offs? 

A. 30 per cent. 

Q. Where may we set the practical temperature for super- 
heated steam? 

A. We may put it at say 575 F. = about 302 C, for 
pressures of 150 to 180 pounds; that is, about 180° F. == 
82.23 ° C. above that of saturated at the same pressure. 



SATURATED AND SUPERHEATED STEAM. 185 

Q. Does superheated steam follow the lazes of perfect 
gases? 

A. When far removed from the temperature of saturation 
it does follow the laws of perfect gases very nearly, but near 
the temperature of saturation the departure from those laws 
is too great to allow of calculations by them for engineering 
purposes. 

Q. What is its volume compared with the saturated? 
A. About 25 per cent greater. 

Q. What are the advantages of superheating? 

A. Increase of power; decrease of boiler pressure, hence 
longer boiler-life ; water saving, hence lightening of the tender, 
and lessening of the train weight; lessening of liability to 
knocking out of cylinder heads from water in the cylinders. 

Q. What is the disadvantage? 

A. Increased difficulty of lubrication as the steam of high 
temperature breaks up the ordinary oils. 

Q. Describe the Schmidt superheater as applied to some 
Prussian State locomotives? 

A. As shown in Fig. 107, in which is given a front view, 
there is in the lower part of the tube sheet, taking the 
place of several large tubes, a large one, 280 to 300 milli- 
meters = say 1 1.2 inches to 12 inches diameter, according to 
the boiler diameter. The superheater itself consists of 62 tubes 
of 30 to 32 millimeters = say 1.2 inch to 1.28 inches internal 
diameter, forming three concentric rings, nearly touching. 
The upward-pointing end of each set of tubes is expanded 
into a long steam-chamber, one to the right, another to the 
left of the stack. The 21 tubes of the inner rings are bent, 
below, away from the two outer ring rows, so that between 
the inner and the two outer ring rows there is a space (called 
the superheater fire-box) in which enter the combustion-gases 
from the large pipe. The inner wall of the superheater takes 



186 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 




xix 

a 

V 
XIX 

<u 
A 



be 

s 



SATURATED AND SUPERHEATED STEAM. 187 

the form of the inner ring and goes to right and left of the 
smoke-chamber up above the exhaust tips, so that the entire 
superheater, nearly up to the ends of the pipes which are 
expanded into the steam space, is inclosed in an iron case, 
which on both sides of the smoke-box is closed by small hinged 
doors, controllable from the cab. The steam space at the 
right side of the smoke-box has a partition in the middle. In 
its rear compartment, when the throttle is open, the saturated 
steam enters, passes through the ten rear triple ring rows, and 
comes, dry and superheated by these first 31 tubes, into the 
left steam-space. This has no partition, so that the super- 
heated steam passes through the front triple tube rows of the 
superheater to the front space of the right steam-space and 
thence to the steam chests. 

The amount of superheating depends upon the throttle 
opening. It can also be controlled from the cab, by opening 
and closing the little doors ; which last also close automatic- 
ally when the steam blower is on. The temperature of the 
combustion gases falls about 1,470° F. =say 8oo° C, which 
will heat saturated steam from 378° F. = 190° C. up to 
625° F. = say 330° C. The superheater shows an average gas 
temperature of 1,292° F. = 700° C, and the combustion gases 
leave the stack at a temperature of 662° F. = 350° C. 

Q. Describe the hanger superheater? 

A. The superheater is in the fire-box over a firebrick baffle 
arch. It consists of 58 sections of tubing arranged as clearly 
shown in the illustrations; it is easy to exchange a defective 
superheater for a new one, or to get at the end of a defective 
tube. Two valves in the steam passages and directly over the 
ends of the tubing provide for cutting out the superheater if 
it fails on the road. 

The dome arrangement intFig. 108 on the boiler is that of the 
original scheme, afterward rearranged for actual application 
as indicated in the arrangement shown immediately above but 



188 



V.OCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 




SCALE AND MUD. 



189 



separately from the boiler. Considering only the latter: the 
throttle valve is in a steam box separate from the rest of the 
dome. The steam enters the end of 
the dry pipe noted outside the throttle- 
valve steam box, passes back to and 
down through the superheater and up 
again to the inside of the throttle-valve 
steam box ; being drawn thereto by the 
opening of the throttle. By a by-pass 
valve (VII) this steam box and, con- 
sequently, the superheater, may be 
flooded with water from the injector. 
This water is cleared from the super- 
heater by cutting out the by-pass and 
opening the steam-box drain (c), 
through which a free opening to the 
steam box may be obtained also in case 
it is necessary to cut out the superheater. 




Fig. 109. The Langer 
Superheater. 



These manipula- 
tions are all conducted from the cab by suitably arranged 
levers. 

Q. In ichat lies the chief value of superheated steam? 

A. In the reduction of condensation in the cylinders, the 
more rapid and free movement through the passages and the 
fact that it is a very poor conductor of heat, all of which tend 
to allow a larger proportion of the heat in the steam to be 
transformed into useful work. 

SCALE AND MUD.* 

Q. What is scale ? 

A. A hard deposit left on sheets and tubes from water 
which contains mineral substances in solution or in suspension. 
Q. What are its usual constituents ? 



* In this connection the study of the author's Steam Boiler Cate- 
chism is recommended. 



190 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. Lime is the most common, in some of its compounds, as 
carbonate or sulphate; magnesia and iron are also found, as 
is ordinary clay. 





Figs, no and in. The ganger Superheater. 

Q. What are preventives of scale? 

A. i. The choice of a water having therein no mineral sub- 
stances that will be left behind in the boiler when the water 
has been turned into steam ; 2, filtration of the water, to 
remove substances which are only mechanically contained 
therein ; 3, chemical treatment of the water to make it deposit 
the mineral substances before it reaches the boiler ; 4, chemical 
treatment simultaneously with its supply to the boiler. 

Q. Where must the second and the third preventives be 
resorted to? 

A. In the station tank or before the water reaches it. 



STEAM PRODUCTION. 191 

Q. What are resorted to to remove scale once it has formed 
in the boiler? 

A. Petroleum, and various chemicals which exert a loosen- 
ing effect on the scale already deposited. 

Q. Will black oil soften all kinds of scale? 

A. No. 

Q. Would lard oil or valve oil help? 

A. No ; it would cause foaming and not affect the scale. 

Q. How is mud deposit prevented? 

A. i. By filtering; 2, by using pure water; or 3, by frequent 
blowing off, hot. 

STEAM PRODUCTION. 

Q. What is the maximum production of steam, in cubic feet 
per hour, in a medium-sized passenger locomotive? 

A. It takes about five cubic inches of cylinder capacity per 
net ton of adhesive work to move a locomotive one inch; and 
about one-fifth cylinder full of steam for each single stroke of 
each piston. Supposing 15 inches piston diameter and 20 
inches stroke with a 48,000-pound engine with 24,000 pounds 
of tender and enough cars to make the total train weight 
212,000 pounds or 106 net tons, with seven pounds traction 
per net ton of train, for a speed of ten miles an hour on a 
straight level track (or 21 pounds on a grade) with 90 pounds 
of boiler pressure and cut-off at one-fifth, it would take 
80 x 5 = 16 cubic inches of steam per inch, 84,480 cubic inches 
per mile, 8,444,800 cubic inches or 65.35 gallons per hour; to 
which add 20 per cent for water carried over, etc. 

Q. What may be 'said of the quality of steam furnished by 
locomotive boilers? 

A. Tests made with a locomotive standing on the test plant, 
where there was in all probability less foaming and priming 
than there would be in service on the road (especially if this 
was more or less rough) showed in the dome less than 6 per 



192 . LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

cent water in the worst cases, and an average not over 1^2. 
In the steam-pipe the superheating due to wire-drawing 
reduced this amount one per cent ; so that the average quality 
of steam in the branch-pipe was about 99^ per cent dry steam. 

Q. What about the evaporation per pound of coal in a 
locomotive boiler? 

A. In a constant test, using good coal with 76 per cent fixed 
carbon and 7 per cent of ash, the evaporation per pound of 
coal was for different rates of combustion as follows: 

Minimum. Maximum 

Rate of combustion.* evaporation.! evaporation. f 

0.5 10.5 12. 

1 8.5 10. 
1-5 7 8.5 

2 6 7.5 

Q. What is the amount of zvater that can be evaporated per 
square foot of fire heating-surface per hour? 

A. Referring to the steam tests already quoted, the amounts 
of water per square foot of fire heating-surface per hour, due 
to the maximum evaporation and rates of combustion above, 
were as follows: 

Steam per square foot of heating surface per hour : 
Rate of combustion. Minimum evaporation. 

0.5 lbs. 6 lbs. 

1 10 

1.5 12.8 • 

2 15 

Q. At the above rates, and figuring a horse-power to be 
represented by 34*1/2 pounds of steam from and at 212 F. y 
how much tube tire-surface is necessary for a horse-power? 

A. A little over two square feet. 

* Pounds of coal per square foot of grate per hour, 
f Pounds of water per pound of coal. 



STEAM PRODUCTION. 193 

Q. Putting it the other way about, what part of a horse- 
power may be obtained in a locomotive boiler from one square 
foot of surface of the fire side of the tubes? 

A. Tests have showed from 0.26 to 0.41 horse-power per 
square foot of fire side of tubes. 

Q. Hozc does the circulation in a locomotive boiler usually 
proceed? 

A. Along the bottom of the barrel from the front end, down 
the fire-box front, and up the sides and back to the fire-box ; 
but the manner of firing may change this, or even reverse it. 

Q. What are the results of tests for boiler performance? 

A. Contrary to the common assumption, large boilers, when 
forced to maximum power, deliver as much steam per unit 
area of heating surface as small ones. 

At maximum power, a majority of the boilers tested deliv- 
ered 12 or more pounds of steam per square foot of heating 
surface per hour; two delivered more than 14; the second 
largest delivered 16.3. These values, in boiler horse-power 
per square foot of heating surface, are 0.34, 0.40 and 0.47, 
respectively. 

Q. Which steamed best — passenger or freight engines? 

A. The two boilers holding the first and second place with 
respect to steam per square foot of heating surface, were 
those of passenger locomotives. 

Q. What are the essentials of a good locomotive boiler? 

A. 1. Reliability and mechanical maintenance — that is, 
freedom from cracked sheets, leaky seams and flues, leaky and 
broken stay-bolts. 

2. Continuous development pf maximum horse-power within 
the capacity and endurance of the ordinary fireman. 

3. An efficiency as near as possible to that of the best 
stationary and modern boilers. 



194 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. On zvhat do reliability and low cost of maintenance 
depend? 

A. Principally on freedom of circulation around the fire-box. 

Q. What elements go to facilitate such circulation? 

A. Depth of box and width of water legs. 

Q. Should depth be obtained by depth of throat sheet, or by 
raising the crown sheet? 

A. By depth, of throat sheet. 

Q. Is the ordinary fire-box calculated to withstand the heat 
of perfect circulation? 

A. No; but the better the circulation the less the trouble 
with the fire-box. 

Q. W hat is the best rule for calculating the horse-power of 
a boiler? 

A. A boiler has no horse-power. One engine will get three 
or four times as much power from the steam delivered by a 
given boiler as another. A common rule is, however, to divide 
the number of square feet of heating surface by 12, to get 
the rated horse-power. A boiler which evaporates 34j4 
pounds of water into steam from and at 212 per hour is said 
to be of one horse-power. 

WATER TUBE BOILERS. 

Q-. Describe the Robert water-tube locomotive boiler? 

A. The outside appearance is the same as that of an ordi- 
nary locomotive boiler. The boiler proper is formed of a 
mud drum and a steam drum, connected by three circular 
uprights. The steam drum is extended to the rear above the 
fire-box, and is fitted at the top with a steam dome connected 
by return tubes to a feed-collecting hollow frame at the bottom 
of the fire-box. The fire-box sides are lined by return tubes 
close together, expanded in the hollow frame and in the steam 
drum. The drums are connected by curved tubes, those in 
front and rear of the fire-box being large steel tubes, and 



WATER TUBE BOILERS. 



195 



covered by a fire brick lining. The steam and exhaust pipes 
are arranged in the usual way in the smoke-box. 

While the old type has to be thoroughly overhauled after 




Fig. 112. The Robert Water Tube Boiler. 

about 20,000 miles, the Robert boiler maintains its efficiency 
over 80,000 miles. A high degree of evaporation is said to be 
maintained, and the locomotive, it is claimed, is capable of 
hauling 25 per cent more than those of ordinary type with 
equal grate area and heating surface. The total heating 
surface is 1,165^ square feet, of which 172.3 is in the fire- 
box. The grate area is 19.4 square feet, the ratio between 
grate and heating surface of 60. 

Q. What is the cab turret? 

A. A distributing chamber or steam head on top of the 
boiler, inside the cab, having one main valve communicating 
with the steam space in the boiler, and a number of outlets, 
tapped for pipe connections, by means of which steam can be 
supplied to the injectors, air pump, blower, steam heating 
apparatus, etc. 



196 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 




THE CYLINDERS. 197 

THE CYLINDERS. 

Q. What are the principal parts of the cylinders? 

A. (i) Cylinder proper with its bushing and stuffing-box, 
(2) steam-chest with its false seat (should there be one) and 
stuffing-box, and (3) bed-casting or saddle. 

Q. How many cylinders are there? 

A. Two, three, or four; non-compounds usually having 
only tw T o, compounds having either two, three, or four. 

Q. How can the same pattern be used for both cylinders of 
a non-compound engine? 

A. The ports come right whichever end of the cylinder is 
turned front, and the heads and flanges on both ends are 
alike. 

Q. Where are the cylinders of a two-cylinder American 
locomotive? 

A. Outside of the frames. 

Q. Where are the cylinders of most two-cylinder European 
locomotives? 

A. Inside, between the frames. 

Q. Where there are three cylinders, as in a compound loco- 
motive with one cylinder between the frames and two outside, 
as shown in Fig 114, how are the cranks arranged? 

A. 120 , that is, one-third of a circle, apart. 

Q. What are the advantages of the American arrangement f 

A. There is no necessity for cranking the axle, and the 
steam chests are more readily got at. 

Q. What are the advantages of inside-cylinder engines? 

A. They run more steadily, where the wheel-base is short, 
as outside cylinders have greater leverage to twist the entire 
machine from side to side ; and there is less loss of heat from 
cylinders by radiation, than where they are exposed outside 
the frames ; the engine takes up less side room, hence narrower 
tunnels and bridges suffice for a given engine power. 



198 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. What are the disadvantages of inside cylinders? 

A. Danger from broken crank-axles; difficulty of getting 
at the cylinders for inspection, adjustment and repair, and 
inability to use cylinders of very great diameter. 

Q. Where there are two cylinders in a compound locomo- 
tive, where are they generally arranged? 



^ 




Fig. 114. Arrangement of Cylinders, Webb Compound Locomotive. 



A. In an outside-cylinder engine, the high-pressure will 
come on one side, the low-pressure on the other. If an inside- 
cylinder engine, the high-pressure may be beside the low, or 
they may be "tandem" or in line; although the latter is rare, 
and calls for too great engine length. 



THE CYLINDERS. 



199 



Q. Where there is a three-cylinder compound engine, kow 
are the cylinders arranged? 

A. There may be one high-pressure cylinder between the 
frames, exhausting into two low-pressure outside. 

Q. In the original Vauclain compound, what is the cylinder 
arrangement? 




Fig. 114A. Cylinder, Pennsylvania Railroad Engine, Class "O." 
Lengthwise Vertical Section. 

A. Two on each side, one above the other, where the con- 
ditions will permit the high-pressure cylinder being put on top 



200 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 





Figs. 114B and 114C. 
Cylinder and Half- 
saddle Cross Section 
Pennsylvania 
Railroad Engine, 
Class "O." 



THE CYLINDERS. 



201 



as is shown in Fig. 115, but where the wheeis are low, as 
w r ith consolidation engines, the low-pressure is above, as shown 
in Fig. 116. 

Q. What is the objection to a four-cylinder engine having 
izco outside cylinders, side by side, each side of the frame? 




Fig. 115. Cylinders, Valve Chest and Half-saddle, Yauclain 
Bight-wheeled Compound. 

A. Complication of working parts, and greater width for 
the same cylinder-capacity, than where there is only one cyl- 
inder each side. 

Q. Is it possible to counterpoise the connecting-rod weight 
so that a two-cylinder engine shall be balanced both vertically 
and horizontally? 

A. No. 

Q. Suppose that an ordinary tzco-cylinder engine has its 
connecting-rod balanced vertically, what will be the effect? 

A. It will run with a series of horizontal jerks. 

Q. If balanced horizontally, what will be the effect? 



202 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. That which is ordinarily observed; there will be a series 
of vertical movements corresponding to the upward and down- 
ward crank motion, and the engine will sway from side to 
side, and give vertical blows upon the rails. 

Q. How may this be done away with? 

A. By having two cylinders upon a side, both outside of the 




Fig. 116. Cylinders, Valve Chest and Half -saddle, Vauclain 
Consolidated Compound. 

frames, and each having its own connecting-rod ; so that when 
one rod goes up the other goes down, every pound that goes 
up at a given velocity on one side being balanced by another 
pound at the same velocity in the other direction, upon that 
side. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of steeply-inclined outside 
cylinders? 

A. They cause a rolling motion. 

Q. How are the steam cylinders made? 

A. Their convex walls are cast with the steam-chest bottom 
in one piece with them, and the passages from steam-chest 
to counterbores cored out; the front and the back heads are 



THE CYLINDERS. 



203 



fastened on by bolts or studs, with steam-tight joints between 
the heads and the cylinder-end flanges. The steam-chest is 
sometimes in one piece with the cylinder, sometimes bolted 
thereto. 

Q. To what are the cylinders fastened? 

A. To bed-plates or bed-castings placed between them; 
these sometimes forming two separate pieces bolted together 
in the center of the engine, sometimes being in one piece, 
with the cylinders bolted to them, and sometimes formed in 
one with the cylinder and bolted together on the center-line of 
the engine. 




Fig. 117. Cylinder, Steam-chest and Attachments. 

1. Cylinder. 2. Front Head, 3. Back Head. 4. Front Cover. 5 Back Cover. 6. 
Cylinder-gland, R and I,. 7. Cylinder-gland, Bottom-ring. 8. Wood gagging. 9. 
Casing. 10. Steam-chest. 11. Steam-chest Cap. 12, Steam-chest Gland. 13. Steam- 
chest Gland, Bottom-ring. 14. Steam-chest Cover. 15 Steam-chest Casing. 16. Steam- 
chest Valve. 17. Steam-chest Valve-yoke. 18. Steam-chest Joint. 19. Steam-chest 
Oil-pipe Stem. 



204 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. To what are the bed-castings fastened, other than to the 
cylinders? 

A. The smoke-box. 

Q. To what are the cylinders fastened, other than to the bed- 
castings? 

A. The frames. 

Q. Which cylinder arrangement is the most popular in 
America for non-compound engines? 

A. The cylinder and half-saddle cast in one. (See Fig. 
118.) 

Q. In this type, what is the difference between the cylinders 
for the two sides of a non-compound engine? 

A. They are practically alike, to save expense in patterns 
and in keeping spare parts at various shops. 

Q. Are cylinders and frames always bolted together? 

*W Side W 
Wedge 




Binder 
SIDE ELEVATION 



FRONT ELEVATION 



Fig. 118 Cylinder Fastening. 

A. No; some Philadelphia and Reading engines have them 
wedged together as shown in Fig. 118. 



THE CYLINDERS. 205 

Q. What is the bad effect of too much cylinder clearance? 

A. Steam waste, unless counteracted by excessive compres- 
sion, which affects the other elements of steam distribution. 

0. How much cylinder clearance should be sufficient in an 
ordinary engine? 

A. A quarter of an inch at each end as minimum; three- 
eighths as maximum. The higher the speed the more clear- 
ance needed, other things being equal. 

Q. What is the use of a bush? 

A. To reduce the cylinder bore, to repair cracked and worn 
cylinders, and avoid the difficulty of cylinders which are too 
soft; perhaps also a saving in fuel and oil. 

Q. How thick should cylinder bushings be? 

A. One half inch to three-quarters of an inch; 

Q. How should they be held in the cylinder casting? 

A. Without any fastening except the pressure of the heads. 

Q. Should cylinders be designed with the view of bushing 
when worn? 

A. Many think so. 

Q. Should hew cylinders be bushed? 

A. This seems the opinion of many. 

Q. Show by sketches different methods of bushing cylin- 
ders? 

A. Fig. 119 shows a bushing extending from the front head 
to the back; Fig. 120, one ending at the inside of the back 
port; Fig. 121, a proposed construction in which a collar in 
the front end of the bush is formed to bear the pressure of 
the front head and avoid the necessity of bridging the port. 

Q. What is the questionable feature in this construction? 

A. The possibility of steam escaping between port and 
bushing. 

Q. What is the objection to bolts for fastening on the 
cylinder-heads? 



206 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. Breakage of the bolt calls for removal of the entire 
cylinder lagging, to replace that bolt; whereas a stud may be 
drilled out in place without unlagging. 

Q. Why is the cylinder count erbored at each end? 




Fig. 119. Cylinder Bushing. 




Fig. 120. Cylinder Bushing. 




NOTE:- 
When Reboring Counterbore only ^" 
larger in diam, than Cylinder Bore 



Fig. 121. Cylinder Bushing. 



THE CYLINDERS. 207 

A. To prevent the piston from wearing a shoulder at the 
end of its stroke. 

Q, What would be the disadvantage of such a shoulder? 

A. If the piston position with reference to the cylinder 
should be changed by any adjustment, there would be danger 




Fig. 1 21 A. Cylinder and Half-saddle. 

of breakage when the edge of the piston-head struck "the 
shoulder at either end. 

Q. How is the joint between steam-chest case and cylinder, 
between it and its cover, made steam-tight? 

A. One way is by an ordinary gasket; but a preferable one 
is by a % inch soft copper rod of proper outline, the ends 
being scarfed and hard-soldered. This cannot be blown out, 
as is apt to be the case with ordinary gasket-stuff ; and when 
the joint is broken the wire may be used again and again. 

0. What method or preparation is used in making joints 
between steam pipes and cylinders? 

A. The faces of the steam pipes and the bearing on the 
saddle or cylinder should be as nearly parallel to each other as 
possible : the bearing on the pipe being flat and the saddle 
joint concave. Brass rings are carefully ground to both faces, 
and a very thin coating of white lead and oil may be put on 
the joints before tightening up. 



208 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. How is the joint between cylinder and heads made steam- 
tight? 

A. By sheet gasket, or by a soft copper wire as mentioned 
in connection with the steam-chest. 

Q. Hozv is the cylinder-casing held on? 

A. It is best held out from the cylinder-walls by the flanges 



SHE 



w 



3 

a 



<ss 



% 



Fig. 122. Cylinder-cock Work. 

i. Upper-arm. 2. I<ower-arm. 3. Shaft. 4. Shaft-bearing. 5. Cock strips. 6. I,ever 
in Cab. 7. I^ever-fulcrum. 8. Coupling-rod Jaws. 



on the cylinder ends, and held on these by the front and back 
covers being slipped over it. 

Q. How is the danger of knocking out a cylinder-head, by 



THE CYLINDERS. 



20& 



water carried over from the boiler or left by condensation, 
lessened? 

A. By cocks at each cylinder end, controlled from the cab, 
and by which the cylinders may be bled from time to time if 
the engines work water or after starting. (See Figs. 122 and 
123.) 

Q. From zvhat part should the cylinder be lined? 

A. From the counterbore, which is never worn out of size 
or shape. But it must first be scraped clean of oil crust, etc. 

Q. What kind of a line should be used? 

A. As fine as possible. 




Fig. 123. Combination Cylinder-cock and By-pass Valve, 
Vauclain Compound Locomotive. 

Q. If the back head is up, how is the back end of the 
cylinder to be lined? 

A. By the stuffing-box. 

Q. What is the cause of cylinder condensation? 

A. The cylinder wall, which at admission has a lower tem- 
perature than that of the entering steam, condenses part of 
this latter, unless it is superheated, when it merely lowers its 
temperature without actual condensation. 

Q. What influence has the thickness of the cylinder on the 
amount of temperature reduction? 



210 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. The thicker the wall, the less this reduction ; as the mass 
of iron acts somewhat as a reservoir of heat. 

Q. What influence has relative cylinder diameter? 

A. In so-called "square" engines there is more wall for a 
given volume than in those with stroke longer than the 
diameter. 

Q. What disadvantage have cylinders of large diameter ? 
A. They have excessive cooling and f rictional surface ; 
further, their steam ports are seldom proportionately large. 

Q. What has been the usual fault of American locomotive 
design? 

A. Excessive cylinder capacity for the boiler,, and for the 
weight of the drivers. Most American engines are able to slip 
their drivers, which shows unnecessary cylinder power. 

Thus where diameter and stroke are each 10 inches, the 
head area is 78.54 X 2 = 157.08 square inches; the convex 
surface 31.416 X 10 = 314.16 square inches; total surface, 
471.24 square inches; volume, 78.54 X 10 = 785.4 cubic 
inches; ratio of surface to volume, 1 to 1.67. With 10 inches 
diameter and 15 inches stroke the head area is 157.08 square 
inches, convex surface 471.24 square inches, total surface 
628.32 square inches, volume 1,178.1 cubic inches; ratio of 
surface to volume, 1 to 1.88. With 10 inches diameter and 
20 inches stroke we have the same head area as with 10 
inches X 10 inches, but double the convex surface ; hence total 
surface of 785.4 square inches, double the volume = 1,570.8 
cubic inches ; ratio of surface to volume, 1 to 2. 

Q. What precaution is taken to lessen the loss of heat and 
lowering of pressure due to internal condensation by reason of 
radiation from steam-chest and cylinder walls? 

A. They are lagged with a non-conducting substance, as 
wooden strips, and usually have an air-jacket or double wall; 
the cylinder-heads are in the same way double. Sometimes, 



THE STEAM CHEST. 211 

instead of wooden strips, hair felt is used as a non-conductor. 

Q. What are the results of tests as regards steam jacketing 
of compound locomotives? 

A. According to Borodin, without steam in the jackets the 
economy of steam was 13 per cent, of fuel 24 per cent, over 
non-compounds, but with steam in the jackets there is increased 
consumption of both steam and fuel. 

THE STEAM-CHEST. 

Q. In what position are the steam-chests? 

A. In the American engines, on top (see Fig. 1) ; in British 
engines, or at least on those which have inside cylinders, on 
the sides next the center line of the machine. 

Q. What are the advantages of top chests? 

A. The engine is kept within less width than if they were 
on the side. 

Q. What are the disadvantages? 

A. The cylinder is more difficult to free from water than if 
the valve was on the side or beneath. 

Q. What are the advantages of having the valve-chest and 
slide-valves on the cylinder sides, as in English inside-con- 
nected engines? 

A. The cylinders are more readily drained of water. 

Q. Where is the valve-chamber of the Vauclain engine? 

A. In the cylinder-saddle, as shown, between the boiler and 
the cylinder. (Figs. 115 and 116.) 

Q. Hozc are the steam-chests for flat D-valves made? 

A. They usually consist of rectangular frames forming 
chests or boxes without either top or bottom, fastened to the 
cylinder-casting by a steam-tight joint, and having a cast-iron 
cover of considerable strength to resist the internal steam- 
pressure on its flat surface. 

Q. How are the valve-seats made? 



212 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. They are planed as true as the planer will make them, 
then filed and scraped until smooth and practically plane. 

Q. What name is given to the plate covering the top of the 
steam-chest ? 

A. The steam-chest cap, as distinguished from the casing 
above it. 

Q. What name is given to the other casing on top of the 
steam-chest ? 

A. The steam-chest cover, as distinguished from the cap 
which it covers. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of the usual system of having 
the steam passages alongside of the exhaust-passages from the 
chest to the cylinder? 

A. That the exhaust cools the live steam, unless there is 
considerable compression ; also there is danger of cracking the 
saddle by unequal temperatures. 

RELIEF VALVES. 

Q. What is a relief valve? 

A. An outward opening safety-valve on the cylinder head or 
the end of the steam chest, which relieves any excessive 
pressure due to over-compression of steam, or the presence of 
water in the chest or cylinders to which it is applied. 

Q. What are the disadvantages of relief valves? 

A. If they leak badly, they obscure the engineman's view. 

Q. What prevents air and cinders being sucked into the 
steam chest through the exhaust pipes, when steam is off y and 
the piston working? 

A. A relief valve in the end of the steam-chest, opening 
inward into the chest, and permitting air to enter the chest 
through it, instead of coming by way of the exhaust pipes and 
drawing cinders therewith. 



PISTON PACKINGS. 



213 




i. Piston-head. 2. Piston-fol- 
lower. 3. Piston-follower Bolts. 
4. Piston-follower Bolt-nuts. 5. 
Piston-Rod. 6. Piston-rod Key. 
7. Piston-rod Nut. 8. Piston-spring 



Rings (Cast-iron). 9. Piston T- 
ring (Cast-iron). 10. Brass and 
Composition Piston-rings. 11. 
Piston-spring. 12. Pistou-spring 
Studs and Nuts. 



Figs. 124, 125 and 126. Piston and Packing Rings, 



214 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

THE PISTON. 

Q. What is the piston? 

A. A reciprocating member formed of a piston-head and a 
piston-rod, playing together, lengthwise of the cylinder, freely 
but practically steam-tight. 

Q. How is the piston-head made? 

A. There are dozens of designs. One of the most common 
is a spider consisting of a ring, hub, and radial arms, and a 
follower-plate or follower fastened to the spider by the follow- 
er-bolts. This built-up head works slightly loose in the cylin- 
der, but has a pair of rings set out by bolts from the inside of 
the spider so that they press with any desired degree of force 
against the cylinder-walls ; the rings being cut across to permit 
being opened out by the packing-bolts. The joint or cut in 
one ring is on the opposite side of the piston-head from that 
in the other, so as not to make a continuous cut through which 
steam might pass. 

Fig. 124 shows a piston-head in one solid piece with two 
cast-iron spring rings 8, 8, let into grooves in its periphery. 
Fig. 125 shows a head made of a spider 1 or head proper, and 
a follower 2, fastened thereto by follower-bolts 3 and follower- 
bolt nuts 4; the rings 10 in this case being of brass and com- 
position held out by piston-springs 11, the force of which may 
be varied by spring-studs and nuts 12. 

In Fig. 126 there is also a spider or head 1, a follower 2 
and bolts and nuts 4, but there is a cast-iron T-ring 9, and 
cast-iron spring-rings. These three show the principal kinds 
of packing used. In Fig. 124, the piston is fastened on with 
a nut 7; in Figs. 115 and 116, by a key. 

Q. Of what material are these rings? 

A. Of cast-iron, or of brass or gun-metal, or of either of 
these two with babbitt-metal run in to lessen friction. 

Q. What material is used for follozver-bolt nuts? 



THE PISTON. 215 

A. Brass, to prevent the bolts being rusted tight therein, 
thus preventing adjustment. 

Q. Is there any other way of packing pistons besides by 
setting out the packing-rings by bolts and nuts? 

A. Yes, they may be steam-packed; that is, the rings may 
be set out. by the steam-pressure in the cylinder, so that the 
greater this steam-pressure, tending to pass the piston, the 
greater the force by which the rings are pressed against the 
cylinder-walls to prevent leakage past the head. Also, they 
are often held out solely by their own elasticity; being a trifle 
larger in diameter than the cylinder-bore and having cut out 
of their periphery a piece large enough to enable them to be 
sprung in. 

Q. % What section is given to such spring packings ? 

A. Their inner circle is eccentric with the outer, so that they 
are thicker at one side than at the other; the cut being made 
at the thin side, so as to give them the greatest possible spring, 
to tend to keep them open and against the cylinder- walls. 

Q. Where a piston has split spring packing, on which side 
is the cut in the ring put? 

A. On the bottom. 

0. What is the Dunbar piston-packing? 

A. It is made of two cast-iron rings, one of them being 




Fig. 127. Half of Vauclain Two-part Cast-iron Piston-head. 



216 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

shaped like the letter L, the other fitting into the side or recess 
of the L ring, so that both rings bear against the inner wall 
of the cylinder. These rings are generally cut in four sections, 
placed to break joints so the steam cannot get by and fastened 
so they will not work around and let the joints come opposite, 
each other. When working steam it gets under the L ring and 
holds them both out steam-tight. There is a small spring steel 
ring put under the ' L ring to hold them out against the cylinder 
when steam is shut off. Two sets of these packing rings are 
used in each piston. 

Q. What are the peculiarities of steam packing as compared 
with spring packing? 

A. It runs longer without attention, but gives out more 
frequently by breakage. 

Q. How would you test cylinder packing on the road? 

A. Set the driver brake, close the cylinder cocks, put the 
lever full forward, open the throttle ; open the cylinder cock on 
that end which should have no pressure in it. If steam shows, 
there is a leak in the packing. 

Q. How much faster does the crank pin travel than the 
piston, and how is the ratio arrived at? 

A. More than one-half faster, or in the ratio of I for the 
piston to 1.5708 for the crank pin; roughly as 7 to 11. The 
piston makes a full stroke both ways for one revolution of 
the pin. One piston stroke is equal to the diameter of the 
circle described by the crank pin, which, multiplied by 3.1416, 
gives the circumference of the circle. 

Q. What method is there of making pistons which will 
permit of having them hollow, yet do away with the uncer- 
tainty of coring? 

A. By casting them of two sections and riveting them 
together; the sections being as shown in Fig. 127. 

Q. How is the piston-rod fastened to the crosshead? 



THE PISTON. 217 

A. Usually it is tapered to fit a tapering hole in the cross- 
head, and keyed in place. 

0. What relieves the stuffing-box of the strain that would 
be put on it by the tendency of the connecting-rod to bend the 
piston-rod in a vertical plane? 

A. The crosshead, which works in guides absolutely parallel 
with the cylinder-axis, thus protecting from undue wear the 
rod, the stuffing-box, and the cylinder and piston. (See Figs. 
130 to 133 inclusive.) 

0. How is the piston-rod fastened to the piston-head? 

A. It may be (1) passed clear through and riveted over, 
or (2) passed through and supplied with a nut on the front 
end, or (3) tapered and keyed, or (4) tapered and riveted, 
or (5) tapered, riveted and keyed. (See Figs. 124, 125 and 
126.) 

0. Where the piston-rod passes through the back head, how 
is the steam prevented from passing out of the cylinder? 

A. The rod passes through a stuffing-box, the annular space 
between it and the box being filled with an elastic material 
like hemp, India rubber and cotton, etc. : this material being 
pressed aginst the stuffing-box walls and the outside of the 
rod by the stuffing-box cover having a tube that partly pro- 
jects inside the box and by which, when the cover or gland is 
screwed down more or less tightly, the packing is pressed more 
or less strongly against box and rod. There are also anti- 
friction metal split packing-rings which are pressed against rod 
and box by springs. 

Q. What is the effect of excessive piston-clearance? 

A. Waste of steam by preventing the exhaust being com- 
pressed up to the steam-chest pressure. 

0. What is an extension piston-rod? 

A. A continuation of the piston-rod through the front head, 
having for its object to help keep the piston weight from the 



218 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

lower side of the cylinder bore. On a stationary engine it is 
called a back-rod. 

Q. Where is it most used? 

A. On the low-pressure cylinders of compound engines ; also 
where the piston is very heavy. 

Q. What is the disadvantage? 

A. One more' stuffing-box on each cylinder to adjust and 
keep tight and to make friction. 

Q. What is important as regards the weight of recipro- 
cating parts? 

A. It should be kept as low as is compatible with strength. 

Q. So long as they are balanced, does it make any differ- 
ence? 

A. Yes. (i) No engine with unbalanced cylinder action 
can be balanced against both vertical and horizontal shocks ; 
(2) these balance weights increase the centrifugal or tangen- 
tial force, especially at high speed, thus causing hammering. 

Q. Are European pistons generally lighter or heavier than 
American? 

A. Much lighter. 

Q. To what is the piston pressure necessary to produce 
acceleration of the reciprocating parts proportional? 

A. (1) To the weight of those parts; (2) to the square of 
the rotation speed. 

Q. How can this necessary pressure be kept down? 

A. (1) By making the parts lighter; (2) by greater driver 
diameter. 

Q. Have American engines lighter or heavier reciprocating 
parts than European of the same class? 

A. Heavier; especially when we consider the use of cast- 
iron crossheads. 

Q. Describe the Szviderski rod packing for high pressures 
and superheated steam? 



CROSSHEAD AND GUIDES. 219 

A. The stuffing-box, as such, is absent. There are several 
metal rings, ground to fit the rod, and free to play radially 
between the lips of U-sectioned rings which closely fit the 
walls of the chamber ; so that with any sidewise motion of the 
rod its rings, instead of pressing thereon, follow its move- 
ments and slide in the cavities of the inclosing box-rings. The 



Fig. 128. Metallic Rod Packing. 

steam pressure in the chambers of this packing varies with 
that in the cylinder itself. (Fig. 128.) 

THE CROSSHEAD AND GUIDES. 

Q. What are the essential parts of a crosshead? 

A. A socket for the piston-rod end; a journal on which the 
connecting-rod may turn, and slides which may play between 
the guides. 

Q. Which is it best to have cut by zvear — the slides (gibs) 
or the guides ? 

A. The slides or gibs. 



220 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. What is the objection to a wrist-pin cast in one piece with 
the crosshead? 

A. It is difficult to true up. 

Q. Why are crosshead pins made comparatively short and 
thick? 

A. By reason of the lateral play between the driving-wheel 
hubs and their boxes making a twisting stress on the pin, on 
curves. 

Q. How is the wrist-pin attached to the crossheadf 

A. It is usually cast solid therewith. 

Q. What class of crossheads may be used for compound 
engines having two cylinders on each side? 




Fig 129. Crosshead, Vauclain Compound Locomotive. 



A. As shown in Fig. 129, having two sockets, one for each 
rod ; the entire block being of cast steel in one piece and having 
its wearing-surfaces covered with block tin 1-16 inch thick. 

Q. What is the purpose of crosshead guides? 

A. To keep the piston in line with the cylinder axis. 



CROSSHEAD AND GUIDES. 



221 



(n 






1—j a: 

2 o 



T 



£ a 



^ 4) «2 



O ^* 

M r-i V 

Vi X 



Q. To do this, what is necessary? 

A. That they be parallel with that axis and with each other, 
and at such hight as will bring the center of the crosshead 
pin in line with that axis. 



222 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What forms are given to guides? 

A. Their form is legion. (i) There may be only one 
guide-bar, above the piston rod and crosshead, and which is 
embraced by the latter, or (2) there may be two, one above 
and the other below, the crosshead having bearing surfaces on 
both, but not embracing either, or (3) two above the cross- 
head, or (4) two pairs, one pair above and one pair below 
the crosshead. Fig. 130 shows an arrangement in which the 
crosshead has four guide-bars, two upper and two lower, the 
wrist-pin center being about in line with the lower ones, as 
shown in the cross section. Fig. 131 shows two, one upper 
and one lower guide, the wrist-pin coming about half way 
between them, as shown more clearly in the cross section. In 
Fig. 132 there is but one guide-bar, surrounded by plates 
bolted to the crosshead proper. In Fig. 133 there are two 
guides, having between them what is called the crosshead 
filling-piece, bolted between the two crosshead cheeks. 

Q. What name is often given to the distance-piece between 
the guides ? 

A. Guide filling-pieces. 

Q. What class of guides is used, where one of the driving- 
wheels is opposite the guide-bars, as with mogul and consoli- 
dation engines? 

A. There are two bars above the crosshead and none below 
or on the sides. 

Q. What holds the guide-bars in place against the great 
vertical strains to which they are subjected? 

A. They are bolted at the front end to the back cylinder- 
head and at the back to a guide-yoke attached to the frame 
of the engine, and usually, also, to the boiler. 

Q. What is the guide-yoke? 

A. A transverse plate or casting secured to the frames by 
angles or knees, holding and supporting the outer guide ends, 



CROSSHEAD AND GUIDES. 222 

and frequently having a brace to the boiler waist on each end, 
as well as an expansion plate for the boiler between the 
frames. It is also called spectacle plate, motion plate, guide 
bearer, and guide cross-tie. The British call it a slide-bar 
bracket. 

Q. What other name is often given to the guide-yoke? 
A. The guide-bearer. 

Q. What provision is there for reducing to a minimum the 
zvear of guides and slides? 

A. The guides are hard and finely finished, and the slides 
fitted with gibs of brass or bronze between them and the 
guides ; these being adjustable so that as they wear they may 
be set out to take up the lost motion. The gibs or wearing- 
pieces being softer than the guides, get nearly all the wear, 
which is desirable, because they are cheaper to renew ; and 
may be set out quite readily, by liners or otherwise. 

Q. Is there any provision for bringing the guide-bars nearer 
together when worn, or for other reasons? 

A. Where they are double, one above and one below, or 
one pair above and one pair below, they are held at a fixed dis- 
tance apart by end-blocks or distance-pieces ; and these latter 
being removed and planed off to any desired extent allow of 
this sort of adjustment. Another way is to provide liners at 
first and to have them removed from between the end-blocks 
and the guide bars, as the gibs wear. 

Q. Is the wear on the guides uniform? 

A. No; not where, as is usually the case, the engine runs 
more in one direction than in the other. 

Q. Where is there the greatest strain on a slide-bar? 

A. At the center of length, by reason of its having less 
support there, and of the angularity of the connecting-rod 
being greatest there. 

Q. Which slide-bar °ets the most wear in running ahead? 



224 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 




Figs. 132 and 133. Guide-bearers and Crossheads. 

1. Guide-bearer. 2. Guide-bearer Knee. 3. Top Guide-bar. 4. Bottom Guide-bar. 
5. Guide-fillings. 6. Crosshead. 7. Crosshead Gibs. 8. Crosshead Filling-piece. 9. 
Crosshead Plate. 10. Crosshead Pin. 11. Crosshead Key. 



THE SLIDE VALVE. 225 

A. The upper. 

Q. Why? 

A. Because on the out stroke, toward the crank, when the 
connecting-rod is below the crosshead, it is in compression and 
throws the latter up against the slide ; and on the in stroke 
(from the crank), when the connecting-rod is above the cross- 
head it is in tension and tends to draw T the latter up against 
the same bar. 

Q. Which slide-bar gets the most wear in running back- 
wards — that is, tender first? 

A. The bottom one, because on the in stroke the connecting- 
rod when below the crosshead is in tension and tends to drag 
the latter against the under slide, and on the out stroke when 
the connecting-rod is above the crosshead it is in compression 
and tends to thrust the latter against the bottom bar. 

Q. When an engine is running ahead, using steam, does the 
crosshead run on the bottom guide-bars? 

A. No; only when the engine is shut off or backing up. 

Q. Why? 

A. Because, if the steam is pushing the piston in the cylinder 
ahead, and the main pin is above the center, the tendency 
would be to lift the crosshead off the bottom guides. The 
same would be true with the pin below the center and the 
steam pushing the piston back. 

Q. What is one of the principal causes of trouble with cross- 
heads? 

A. They are too low, owing to the bottom guide bar getting 
the most wear on down grades. 

THE SLIDE VALVE. 

Q. By what means is the steam admitted to and allozved to 
escape from cylinders? 

A. By a device called a slide valve, playing parallel with the 
cylinder length on a ported seat, driven by suitable mechanism, 



226 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

and controlling steam admission to and exhaust from both 
ends of the cylinder. 

Q. What are the functions of a slide valve? 

A. To let steam into only one end of the cylinder at a 
time ; to cut off the supply at a certain point of the stroke ; to 
let it escape from one cylinder end into the exhaust pipes as 
soon as it commences to enter the other (in some cases to 
close the exhaust before all the waste steam has been 
released) ; to prevent steam passing directly from the entrance 
ports into the exhaust passages. 

Q. When and by whom zvas the slide valve invented? 

A. Toward the end of the eighteenth century, by Matthew 
Murray, of Leeds, but in a crude form. 

Q. In what forms does the slide valve exist? 

A. In two principal types ; the plain short D and the piston 
. valve. 

Q. Who invented the simple long D slide? 

A. Murdock, Watt's assistant. 

Q. What are the principal parts of the plain slide valve? 

A. The body or arch, and the legs. 

Q. What is the most simple and usual slide valve used for 
an American standard locomotive? 

A. The valve consists in effect of a plate or block, as shown 
in section Fig. 117, having in its under surface a cavity which 
extends at right angles to the direction of travel of the valve, 
and parallel with the ports in the valve-seat. Crosswise pro- 
jections from the top of the valve enable the valve-rod to be 
attached either by screws and nuts or by a collar or frame 
surrounding the projections, in such a manner that the valve 
is free to change its position with respect to the valve-rod, as 
its face and that of its seat wear away. 

0. Describe the seat upon which this type of plain slide 
valve or short D valve is placed? 



THE SLIDE VALVE. 227 

A. As shown in Fig. 134, and in. Figs. 135 and 136, it 
consists of a plain surface having three narrow ports, with 
parallel edges, all of which are at right angles to the direction 
of motion of the piston and of the valve. The central (and 
larger) one communicates only with the exhaust-passage, the 
end ones with the cylinder, at the counterbore, each serving 
alternately for admission and exhaust for its own cylinder 
end. There are usually shoulders at each end, so that the valve 
may in its travel extend beyond them, instead of cutting away 
material and wearing a low T place in the seat. 

Q. What would be the effect of omitting the shoulders m 
the seat? 

A. If the valve were given short travel and wore itself a 
low place in the seat, there would, if the travel was increased 
or the valve adjusted so as to be brought nearer to or further 
from the crosshead end of the cylinder, be either a smash-up, . 
or a leak between the steam-chest and cylinder. 

Q. Why are the bridges made narrozu? 

A. To decrease friction, hence reduce the force needed to 
move the valve. 

Q. What isthe usual bridge width in American engines? 

A. From 15/16 to 1% inch. 

Q. What about the length of the valve seat for ordinary 
D valves? 

A. Generally enough to leave the width of one bridge at 
each end with greatest valve travel — unless this would cause 
a shoulder to be worn when the gear is in the most usual 
position. 

Q. What is the advantage of a false valve-seat? 

A. It can be made harder and given a better finish than the 
seat in one piece with the cylinder. 

0. What effect do unequal steam ports on either side some- 
times have? 



228 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. To break crank-pins. 

Q. Is there any usual rule for port area? ' 

A. There is one, "more honored in the breach than in the 
observance" ; to give each end port, for 600 feet piston speed, 
an area of 1/10 the piston area; for higher piston speeds, 
proportionately more port area is given. 

Q. What is the proportion between port area and piston 
area in American locomotives? 

A. There is no standard ; it depends on the service re- 
quired, and sometimes also on the whim or convenience of the 
■designer. One 20 by 24-inch full-gage consolidation engine 
lias 100 to 7; a 17 by 24 full-gage passenger engine, 100 to 
8; a 15 by 1.8 narrow-gage consolidation, 100 to 9 ; a 12 by 6 
narrow-gage passenger, 100 to 9; of 15.76 and 11.76 to 1 for 
full-gage and narrow-gage consolidations, and 12.6 and 11.3 
to 1 for passenger engines. 

Q. What may be said as to the effect of cylinder diameter 
on the port area, with ports of the same length compared with 
the cylinder diameter? 

A. A port length of three-quarters the cylinder diameter, 
for instance, gives comparatively less port area on a small 
cylinder than on a large one. 

Q. By what means is a Hat slide valve attached to and driven 
by the valve-rod or valve-stem? 

A. Ordinarily by a yoke which embraces it so as to permit 
it and the chest to be w r orn or planed down without bringing 
the valve-rod too low in the stuffing-box. 

Q. What other advantage has the yoke? 

A. It lets the valve lift in case of excessive cushion, thus 
acting as a safety valve for the cylinder. 

Q. What provision is made to prevent the valve from 
wearing shoulders in the seat at the points ending its most 
usual travel? 



THE SLIDE VALVE. 229 

A. The seat is slightly raised above the bottom of the chest, 
so that the valve overruns it, as may be seen in the length- 
wise section of the valve-seat (Fig. 137). Raising the valve- 
seat above the bottom of the chest also allows for wear and 
facilitates planing off. 

0. What would be the disadvantage of too short a valve- 
seat? 

A. At full gear, steam would pass under the valve into the 
port which was being used for exhaust. 

0. What is the advantage of having the front and back sides 
of the slide valve extended above its arch? 

A. It gives a good bearing for the valve-yoke, and enables 
the valve to be held on its back for planing. 

0. What is the disadvantage of the recesses on the valve- 
top? 

A. Sometimes they hold oil that should go into the cylinder. 

0. By ivhat means is the slide valve lubricated? 

A. By oil let into the chest by a pipe running back to the 
cab, where it bears an oil-cup ; the flow of oil from this to the 
chest being controlled by the cylinder oil-cock or cylinder- 
oiler. 

0. IVhat would have to be the linear dimensions of a plain 
slide to effect admission at one stroke end, and exhaust at the 
other, fvr each single stroke of the piston? 

A. Outside, equal to the extreme distance between outside 
edges of the end ports ; inside, equal to the distance between 
inside edges of the same ports, as shown in Fig. 135, where 
the valve is in mid-position. 

0. What is the travel of a valve? 

A. The entire distance that it moves along the valve seat, 
irrespective of whether its motion causes port opening or not ; 
this being in locomotives a variable quantity, according to 
whether there is demand for earlv or for late cut-off. 



230 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

0. What is the relation between the travel of the valve and 
the throw of the eccentric? 

A. If the rocker arms are of equal length, the valve travel 
is the same as the eccentric throw. If the rocker has arms of 




Fig. 134. Slide Valve. 

unequal length, then the valve travel will have the same rela- 
tion to the eccentric throw as the rocker arm next the valve 
stem has to that below it. 

Q. What is the difference between the l( throw' and the 
"eccentricity" of an eccentric? 

A. The throw is twice the eccentricity; the latter being the 
distance between the center of the axle and that of the eccen- 
tric sheave. 

Q. How is the admission of steam cut off before the piston 
has reached stroke-end? 

A. By having the legs or lips of the valve longer than 
necessary to seal the end ports, and by so timing the position 
of the valve with respect to that of the piston, that after 
opening the end port for admission of steam the valve shall 
return and close that port before the piston has reached 
stroke end. 

Q. What name is given to the excess of length of leg or 



THE SLIDE VALVE. 231 

lip of the valve at each end, over what is barely required to 
cover the end port? 

A. Steam lap, outside lap; or simply "lap." 

Q. What is the relation between steam lap and the degree 
of expansion? 

A. The greater the lap for a given valve travel, the earlier 
the steam is cut off, and the greater the expansion. 

Q. What is the relation between valve travel and point of 
cut-off and degree of expansion? 

A. The greater the travel for a given amount of lap, the 
later the cut-off and the less the expansion. 

Q. If the valve had its lips just long enough to cover the 
end ports when in mid-position, were at mid-position when the 
piston was at stroke end, and given an equal degree of travel 
in each direction from its mid-position, what would be the 
effect upon the steam distribution? 

A. If the valve had its travel so that it was back again at 
mid-position when the piston reached stroke end, there would 
be steam admission during full stroke, irrespective of the 
amount of valve travel and port opening. 

Q. What effect would the amount of valve travel have upon 
the steam admission in this case, where the valve started from 
mid-position at beginning of stroke and reached mid-position 
again at stroke end? 

A. The longer the travel the fuller the steam admission 
would be. 

Q. How long should the travel be, to give the full degree 
of steam admission without choking? 

A. That depends upon the length as well as the width of 
the port ; also upon the piston speed. The narrower the port 
and the higher the piston speed, the greater should be the 
valve travel. 



232 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q, When the piston starts out from one end of the cylinder? 
what is the direction of motion of the slide valve? 
A. The same as that of the piston. 

Q. yVhen the piston is in the latter part of its stroke, zvhat 
is the direction of the valve motion? 

A. In the opposite direction to that of the piston. 

Q. With a lapped valve, suppose the piston is at beginning 
of the stroke, where is the valve? 

A. Its steam edge is either just in line with the outer edge 
of the end port at the end at which the piston is, or slightly 
in advance thereof in the direction in which both piston and 
valve are to move. 

Q. Where it is slightly in advance of the "line and line" 
position, that is, where the port is slightly opened before the 
piston is at stroke beginning, what is said of the valve? 

A. That it has "lead" or "advance." 

Q. What is the reason for giving the valve lead? 

A. To enable the steam to enter the cylinder more readily 
when the piston is at stroke beginning; also to enable the 
exhaust to open slightly before it would otherwise do, at or 
towards the stroke end. 

Q. Is a valve given lead by its construction, or by its 
setting? 

A. By the setting of the eccentric with relation to the 
crank pin. 

Q. At zvhat part of the valve travel does a slide valve move 
the fastest? 

A. As its center line approaches that of the seat, that is, as 
it nears the middle of its travel. 

Q. What is seal? 

A. An overlapping of the valve edges when in central posi- 
tion, just enough to prevent leakage into or from the ports, 
without being sufficient to be noticeable as lap. 



THE SLIDE VALVE. 



233 



Q. Why will steam not enter the cylinder when the valve is 
on at mid-travel? 

A. Because both steam ports are closed by the lap. 

Q. What is lap? 

A. Lap, properly called outside lap or steam lap, is in the 
ordinary slide valve an excess of length over the amount 
necessary to just come line and line with the outside edges of 




Fig. 135 Slide Valve with Lap Added. 




Fig. 136. Slide Valve with Lap Added. 

the end ports. In Fig. 135, where the valve is in mid-position, 
the outside lap is represented by the extra heavily hatched 
portions at both ends. In Fig. 136 there is no lap. 

Q. What is the object of outside lap? 

A. To close the end ports to steam before the piston has 
completed its stroke, thereby permitting the steam to expand 
and do further work, independent of boiler pressure. 

Q. When it is stated that a slide valve has a certain amount 
of lap, does that mean at each end, or at both together? 



234 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. At each end, unless there is a different amount at each 
end, in which case it is so stated. 

Q. What effect has outside lap upon the time of opening 
for exhaust? 

A. It makes it take place earlier than if there were no lap. 

Q. What effect has outside lap upon exhaust-release or 
opening? 

A. It causes it to take place earlier. 

Q. What is the effect of giving the valve legs or lips a 
certain lap inside the inside edges of the end ports. (See 

Fig- I37-) 

A. To close the exhaust before the piston -gets to stroke 
end, thereby giving cushion or compression. 

Q. What are the advantages of compression or cushion? 

A. To enable a fast-running engine to get over the centers 
without knocking; and by compressing the exhaust steam, 
that has done work, between the piston and the valve face, to 
save steam by making it take less new steam from the chest 
to fill the clearance-space when the valve opens for admission 
at or near the beginning of the new stroke (which is the same 
thing as the end of the old one). 

Q. Is there any other way of enabling the piston to reverse 
its motion without shock, than by cushioning the exhaust 
steam? 

A. Yes, giving "steam lead ;" that is, causing the live steam 
to enter before the piston starts out on new stroke. 

Q. What effect has inside lap upon the time of exhaust com- 
mencement? 

A. It delays it. 

Q. What is the effect, upon the steam distribution, of inside 
or exhaust lap? 

A. To prolong expansion, and hasten compression or 
cushion. 



THE SLIDE VALVE. 



235 



Q. Where is inside lap usually employed? 

A. In high-speed engines having very late cut-off, where 
compression takes place during about one-half the stroke and 
release commences when the crank is w T ithin 40 of the zero 
line. 




Fig. 137. Slide Yalve with Outside and Inside Lap Added. 



Q. In case of over-compression, that is, of compression in 
the cylinder clearance space up to a pressure greater than 
that in the valve chest, zvhat happens? 

A. The valve, if it is a plain D slide, rises. 

Q. What permits it to rise? 

A. The fact that it can rise and fall in the yoke. 

Q. What other advantage has this yoke construction? 

A. As the valve and seat wear, the former can follow the 
latter downward, without bringing the valve stem out of center 
with the stuffing box. 

Q. What is clearance? 

A. The reverse of inside lap; an excess of such width, to 
give the steam port greater opening at stroke commence- 
ment, permit early cut-off, increase compression, and aid in 
filling the cylinder clearance space. (See Fig. 138.) 

Q. What is the effect, upon the steam distribution, of inside 
clearance or "negative inside lap"? 



236 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. To shorten expansion and delay compression or cushion. 
Q. What is inside lead? 

A. There is neither outside nor inside lead. Lead is a 
position, not a dimension or proportion of the valve. Some 




Fig. 138. Slide Valve with Exhaust Clearance. 



might miscall exhaust clearance or inside clearance "inside 
lead/' but it would be wrong. 

Q. Would instantaneous steam-port opening increase speed 
and save fuel over the up-to-date valve gear now in use? 

A. Experiments here and abroad with gears of the four- 
valve type have given affirmative results, as far at least as 
compared with the plain D slide. 

Q. How is the valve position, with respect to the ports, the 
distances between the port-edges, the widths of the ports, and 
the dimensions of the valve itself, arranged so that it will do 
all that is required? 

A. The arch of the valve must be of such width (in the 
direction of the valve travel) as about to reach from the inside 
edge of one steam port to the inside edge of the other; each 
leg or lip of the valve must, when the valve is in such a position 
that the arch will so reach (this being called its mid-position) 
be at least long or wide enough (in the direction of the valve 
travel) to entirely cover its end port. 



THE SLIDE VALVE. 237 

Q. How about the amount of valve travel? 

A. It may be more or less, according to the points at which 
it is desired to cut off steam admission and close the exhaust. 

Q. What is the effect of great valve travel? 

A. Great friction between the valve and seat, unless there is 
some way of counteracting it. 

0. Where there are no rockers and links, what will the 
travel of the valve be? 

A. Equal to the eccentric throw. 

Q. What is the least permissible travel to give full port 
opening? 

A. Twice the steam lap plus twice the steam-port width. 

0. What effect has over-travel on the exhaust? 
A. Chokes it. 

Q. On the sharpness of cut-oft? 
A. Increases it. 

0. On the compression? 

A. Retards it. 

0. On the release? 

A. Retards it. 

Q. Where is over-travel necessary? 

A. When it is desired to give plenty of port opening at 

early cut-off, in which case other points have over-travel. 

0. Hon* can the bad effects of over-travel on the cut-off be 
neutralized? 

A. By giving more outside lap. 

Q. Hoic can delay in cushion, caused by over-travel, be 
neutralized? 

A. By giving more inside lap. 

Q. How can delay in exhaust, due to over-travel, be neu- 
tralized? 

A. By reducing the exhaust lap. 



238 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. Suppose, however, that there is no exhaust lap? 
A. Then by giving the valve exhaust clearance 

Q. To zvhat is the distance that the valve travels, during 
expansion, equal? 

A. To the sum of the outside and the inside lap. 

Q. How may the valve travel be lessened without injuri- 
ously diminishing the port opening? 

A. By providing supplementary ports and passages, as 
shown in what is known as the Allen or Trick valve, seen 
in Fig. 139. There is a step or shoulder on the valve-face, 
and a passage through the valve itself in such fashion that- as 
the outside edge of the valve at either end commences to 
uncover the steam port at that end, the supplementary passage 
commences to receive steam at the other, and passes it over 
to be discharged into the same port, beside the stream of steam 
coming by the outside edge of the valve. 

Q. Where is this valve most needed, and where is it of most 
use? 

A. It is most needed at high speed where the valve travel is 
shortest, and it is of most use here ; also giving double the 
opening with a given valve travel. 

Q. How may it be proved that it is economical of steam? 

A. By the fact that some engines which have been unable 
to run past a certain water, tank without taking water, when 
equipped with the ordinary plain D slide, have been able to go 
on to the next one when the valve was changed to the Allen. 

Q. Can the Allen valve be used on the old seat? 
A. Yes ; but it is sometimes desirable that the steam ports 
be widened a trifle by chamfering their outside edges. 

Q. What special precaution must be taken with the Allen 
valve, as regards its travel? 

A. It should not travel so far as to bring the supplementary 



THE SLIDE VALVE. 



239 



port over the exhaust port of the seat; in which case live 
steam would blow through. 

Q. What precaution needs to be taken in designing the 
valve itself, independent of the travel? 

A. That the walls of the passage through it be strong 
enough to stand the steam pressure. 

Q. What precaution needs to be taken in the manufacture 
of the valve itself after it is designed? 

A. That the coring is good, in order that the passage 
through it may be full size and have smooth walls. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of the Allen extra port? 

A. On long-travel valves under high pressures, the greater 
length necessitated by the extra port makes a greater area to 
be balanced. 

Q. Can Allen ports be used to advantage with piston 
valves? 

A. Xo : the same effect can be got by greater valve diam- 
eter, giving more port length. 




Allen or Trick Valve. 



Q. What is the usual cause of the excessive compression 
often charged to the Allen valve? 
A. Too much lead. 



240 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. For what is the extra steam port leading over the top 
of the Allen valve? 

A. To give a double port opening from the steam chest 
to the cylinder at the instant the valve begins to admit steam 
to the cylinder port. This port extends around exhaust cavity, 
so that one end is over the steam port at the time the other 
end is passing out beyond the edge of the valve seat at the 
opposite end. This lets steam pass into the steam port 
through two openings, one at the edge of the valve, the other 
through the Allen port. 

Q. What is a usual peculiarity of the compression line on 
indicator diagrams from an engine haying Allen valves? 

A. It is wavy. 

Q. To what is this due? 

A. Perhaps to the high-pressure steam confined in the extra 
channel or passage (often miscalled "port") being admitted 
to the exhaust side of the piston as the valve moves over to 
admit steam at that end of the stroke. 

BALANCED VALVES. 

Q. What is the principal objection to the ordinary slide 
valve? 

A. That there is on its back a pressure tending to force it 
down against the valve seat and thus increase the friction and 
wear. 

Q. How may this be remedied? 

A. By causing it to play steam-tight but freely against a 
back plate parallel to the valve seat, thus removing a large 
part of the unbalanced pressure. 

Q. How are such valves usually constructed? 

A. In one of the most common types (the Richardson) 
there is a flat plate held out from the chest cover, parallel 
with the valve, the top of which latter is faced off plane; and 
packing strips are held against the plate by springs. There is 



BALANCED VALVES. 



241 



a hole from the exhaust arch of the valve to the space 
included between the valve back and the balance plate, and 
bounded by the packing strips; the object of this hole being 
to let any steam, that might pass the packing strips, escape 
through the exhaust. 

Q. Describe the plain Richardson balanced valve? 




Fig. 140. Richardson Balanced Valve. 



A. It is simply an ordinary D slide haying in the top or 
back packing strip A bearing against a plate P that lies paral- 
lel with the valve seat S, and is fastened to the chest cover 
C by screw r s B. The central part of the valve back is recessed 
and is in communication with the exhaust arch £ by a central 
hole. (Fig. 140.) 

Q. Can the Allen valve be balanced? 

A. Yes ; in Figs. 141 and 142 such a valve is shown. 

Q. What is the rule for area of a single balance for plain D 
valves? 

A. 13/12 of the combined areas of one steam port, two 
bridges, and the exhaust port. 

Q. For double balance? 

A. 8/7 of the above combined areas. 

Q. What is the rule for area of balance of an Allen (double- 
ported) valve? 



242 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 




Fig. 141. Allen Balance Valve, Pennsylvania Railroad Engine, 
Class " O." Central Lengthwise Vertical Section. 




Fig. 142. Allen Balanced Valve, Pennsylvania Railroad Engine, 
Class ' ' O. ' ' Vertical Cross Section. 




Fig. 143. Allen Balanced Valve, Pennsylvania Railroad, Class " O." 
Lengthwise Vertical Section to one side of Center. 



BRISTOL ROLLER VALVES. 



243 



A. Same as above, only minus the area of one side of the 
Allen port. 

Q. How was the Bristol roller slide valve made? 
A. The valve rested in a number of small rollers RR 
(Figs. 144, 145), each side connected to a frame, their axles 




Fig. 144. Bristol Roller Valve. 

having a little play in their journals. Steel plates were attached 
to the valve on each side and others to the valve seat, so that 
the rollers rested on the latter below and the valve was 




Fig. 145. Bristol Roller Valve. 



carried by the upper plates, which in turn rested on the 
rollers. The pressure of the valve was carried on the rollers ; 
and as it wore there was little or no contact between its face 
and seat. 



244 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

PISTON. VALVES, 

Q. What is a plain piston valve? 

A. A cylindrical sliding piece (usually an iron or steel cast- 
ing) moving backward and forward in the cylindrical bore of a 
steam chest having the same relative ports as for a flat slide for 
admitting steam to, and exhausting it from, an engine cylinder ; 
this piston having a length practically equal to that of the slide 
for the same seat, and a circumferential depression correspond- 
ing in position and axial length equal to the arch of the flat 
slide. In other words, its axial section would look like two D 
valves back to back. 

Q. How is it operated? 

A. In the same manner as a flat D valve. 

Q. How is it packed? 

A. Piston valves have disks or short cylindrical pieces se- 
cured to each end, with metal snap rings to insure a steam- 
tight fit in the valve-chamber bushing. 

Q. What types thereof are there? 

A. (i) Inside admission and (2) outside admission. 

Q. What is an inside admission valve? 

A. One which takes steam from the steam supply pipe into 
its central cavity, between the ends, and admits it to the steam 
passages leading to the cylinder ends ; the exhaust steam from 
the cylinder being in contact with the valve ends. 

Q. What is an outside admission piston valve? 

A. One which uncovers the cylinder ports in the same man- 
ner as an ordinary flat D valve ; the exhaust steam passing 
through the valve cavity before entering the exhaust pipe. 

Q. Which type is the more common? 

A. The inside admission type ; being used instead of the 
slide valve on many recent locomotives. 



PISTON VALVES. 



245 



Q. How can yon tell whether or not the valves have inside 
admission?* 

A. Watch the beginning of the stroke; if the valve stern 
moves in the same direction as the piston, the valve has inside 
admission. 

Q. Is not this also shown if both rocker arms are turned 
down ? 

A. No; the eccentrics might be set in accordance; that is, 
the forward motion ahead of the pin. 




Fig. 146. Piston Valve. 

Q. Can an outside admission piston valve be made to run 
without an exhaust cavity in the seat? 
A. Yes ; as shown in Fig. 146. 
Q. What eccentric arrangement is here necessary? 
A. The same as for the ordinary plain D. 




Q. Can one be made with inside admission and no exhaust 
port? 

A. Yes ; as seen in Fig. 147. 

* Not pre-admission. 



246 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. How about the valve motion in this case? 
A. It must be the reverse of that where there is outside ad- 
mission. 

Q. What would happen if either of the heads of this last 
piston-valve chamber were broken out? 

A. The exhaust would escape into the air without going 
through the stack, hence the steaming would be affected ; there 
would be only three exhausts per turn. 

Q. Can a direct-acting locomotive have indirect-acting 
valves? 

A. Yes ; class "T" of the Pennsylvania Railroad is an in- 
stance. 

Q. On these engines how are the eccentrics arranged? 

A. As for an indirect-acting engine with direct-acting valves. 

Q. How are the eccentrics arranged on a Baldwin com- 
pound freight engine? 

A. The go-ahead sheave is ahead of the crank in running 
ahead. 

Q. What about the port length necessary with a piston 
valve? 

A. It should be longer than for a flat slide. 

Q. At what point in their travel are piston valves most per- 
fectly balanced? 

A. When all ports are covered ; that is, at mid-travel. 

Q. What precautions must be taken in using piston valves? 

A. Unless they have by-pass or special relief valves, not to 
work water into the cylinders ; for, as this valve cannot raise 
its seat as a flat D valve can, the water would be liable to 
damage the cylinders and heads. 

Q. What are the advantages of the piston valve over the 
flat D valve? 

A. (i) Better balancing, and consequently smaller resist- 



PISTON VALVES. 



247 



ance to being moved, (2) better distribution of steam at high 
piston speeds. 

Q. Where is it specially desirable f 

A. In four-cylinder compound locomotives, where one valve 
is employed for a high and a low pressure cylinder on each 
side of the engine, it is the only kind that experience has 
shown to be practicable. 

Q. What is the principal disadvantage of piston valves? 

A. As usually made, (1) the necessity of blowing through 
to warm them up before starting, to prevent the piston sticking 





^ 


J§>^ 


^^ 




Fig. 148. The Schmidt Piston Valve. 



248 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



in the bush — unless rings are used; (2) the exhaust steam 
coming in contact with the valve throws it out of its normal 
position, wearing the valve gear and causing pounding of rods 
and boxes. 

Q. How may this be avoided? 

A. As shown in the Schmidt valve here illustrated, where 
the bushing is hollow and warmed by the incoming steam be- 
fore the latter gets at the valve; further, by sheathing the 
inner faces of the valve, as at s, Fig. 148. Further, by cooling 
the valve itself somewhat bv exhaust steam entering its hollow 
spaces. 




Fig. 149. Piston Valve, 

Q. Sketch a hollow piston valve and show how the exhaust 
escapes? 

A. As in Fig. 149 ; the admission is between the valve ends, 
the exhaust at both chest ends. 

Q. What is one of the disadvantages of the piston valve as 
regards lubrication? 




Vig. 150. Hollow Piston Valve, Vauclain Compound Locomotive, 



VALVE GEARS. 249 

A. It is more difficult to ascertain if it is properly lubri- 
cated. 

Q. What is the valve of the Vauclain four-cylinder com- 
pound engine? 




Fig. 151. Bushing of Piston- valve Seat, Vauclain Compound 
Ivocomotive. 

A. It is a hollow piston having cast-iron rings sprung into 
place like ordinary piston rings. It is practically, in working, 
two D valves the two ends of which control admission and 
exhaust to and from the high-pressure cylinder, the inner 
rings doing same for the low. Fig. 150 shows the valve; 
Fig. 151 the ported seat or bushing in which it plays. 

VALVE GEARS. 

Q. What is the valve gear? 

A. The mechanism by which the slide valves are operated 
by the driving axle (usually the main one). 

Q. Under what two principal classes may locomotive driving 
gears, such as are now used, be divided? 

A. Into (1) link motion gears and (2) radial gears. 

Q. What is a link-motion gear? 

A. One in which the valve receives motion from a piece 
driven by a strap, the two ends of which are actuated by 
eccentrics on the driving axle. 



250 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. What is a radial gear? 

A. One in which the valve stem receives its motion (i) 
from a vibrating member, as the connecting rod, or (2) from 
a reciprocating one, as the piston rod, instead of from a 
rotating one, as an eccentric. 

Q. Do radial gears employ links ? 

A. Some do ; some do not. 

Q. Why is the link in the ordinary valve gear made curved? 

A. Because if straight it would throw the valve out in its 
travel. 

Q. What are the requisites of a locomotive valve gear? 

A. It must be capable of driving the engine in either direc- 
tion, forward or backward, of changing the direction of 
motion in a moment from full speed one way to full speed 
the other ; and of giving all shades of power from nothing 
to maximum, in either direction; besides which it must be 
able to work steam with great economy by expansion, where 
this is required, and w T ith great power without regard to 
economy where occasion calls for this. 

Q. Which of the tzuv classes of valve gears — link or radial 
— is the more common with American locomotives? 

A. The link motion is almost universal in this country, and 
the principal one employed in other countries also. 

Q. What was the drop-hook motion? 




Fig. 152. Hook Valve Motion. 



VALVE GEARS. 



251 



A. As seen in one form in Fig. 152, an arrangement in 
which throwing the lever forward held the backing hook out 
of reach of the rocker pin and let the forward one drop in. 
There was a starting bar to move the valve until the hook 
dropped in, or to enable working the engine entirely by hand. 

Q. What was the V hook? 

A. A reversed arrangement of Stephenson's fork motion; 
no starting bar being necessary, the V's settling on the pin 
and resting in the center. • (See Fig. 153.) 




Fig. 153. Hook Valve Motion. 

Q. What was the immediate forerunner of the link? 
A. The combined hook, Fig. 154, being two V hooks joined 
at the points. 

Q. What is its principal disadvantage ? 
A. It could be worked only in full gear. 
Q. Its advantages? 

A. Few parts ; only one rocker pin for both motions. 
Q. What is one essential fault of valve gears operated by 
eccentrics or cranks? 



252 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. The steam distribution is disturbed by the eccentric 
or crank being attached to the driving axles, that do not 



SUSPENSION 
LINK PIN 



FRONT GEARJ — C^> J 




Fig. 154. Hook Valve Motion. 

remain in line with the valve mechanism, which latter is 
attached to the frames vibrating on springs. 

THE SHIFTING LINK. 

Q. In the most common form of American locomotive, what 
is the character of the link? 

A. It is a curved piece of metal, having in it a slot of cir- 
cular curvature, with its concavity toward the eccentric. In 
this slot plays accurately a block, which may pass from one 
end to the other thereof. This block is attached to the lower 
arm by a pin which serves as a pivot.. The two eccentric- 
rods are attached to the ends of the link by pins serving also 
as pivots. The link itself has across it, as shown in Fig. 155, 



SHIFTING LINK. 



253 



a plate to which is attached a pin, by which the link is hung 
by a nearly vertical link hanger to the lower end of a lifting 



.y £ bjo bfl 




arm borne on a horizontal shaft parallel with the axle. This 
lifting-arm, carrying with it the link, may be raised and low- 



254 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

ered by a nearly vertical arm, connected by a nearly horizontal 
reverse rod to a nearly vertical reverse lever in the cab. Mov- 
ing the upper end of the reverse lever forwards and backwards 
lowers and raises the link. The weight of the link and of 
otherwise unbalanced parts of the gear is counteracted by a 
spring. In England these same otherwise unbalanced parts 
are counteracted by a weight. 

0. What name is given to this link motion ? 

A. The Stephenson or shifting-link gear. 

THE STEPHENSON MOTION. 

Q. How long has this motion been used on locomotives?' 

A. Since 1843, a t which time it was invented by Howe, and 
applied to the locomotives of Robert Stephenson & Co. 

Q. Has it been much changed since its original invention 
and application? 

A. No. 

Q. What is the radius of a link?' 

A. A link is a segment of a circle. Its radius is the dis- 
tance from the center of that circle to the periphery of the one 
w T hich coincides with the link curve. 

Q. To zvhat does a link operated by two eccentrics cor- 
respond, as a mechanical equivalent? 

A. To one operated by a movable eccentric. 

Q. In zvhat is it superior to a movable eccentric? 

A. Its motion can be accurately adjusted so as to do away 
to a great extent with the irregularities in cut-off and exhaust 
closure, due to the angularity of the connecting rod. 

Q. Would it make any difference if instead of the link being 
slotted, with a block sliding in its slot, it was a simple bar, 
embraced by a sliding block? 

A. The difference would be only constructive; the latter 
arrangement would be a mechanical equivalent of the former. 



THE STEPHENSON LINK. 



0. Arc link-motions very common, in which, when the eccen- 
tric centers are between the axle and the link, the rods are 
crossed? 

A. Xo ; except with independent cut-off motions. 

0. What special advantage zcould there be in a crossed-rod 
Jink motion? 

A. That the engine might be stopped with the link in mid- 
gear, which is never possible with the ordinary open-link 
motion ; in which the valve is of necessity open a slight amount 
at mid-gear. 




Fig. 156. Stephenson Link, Crossed Rods. 

0. Are the eccentric rods of the Stephenson valve gear ever 
so arranged as to be crossed instead of ''open" or uncrossed, 
zchen both eccentrics are on the same side of the axle as the 
link? 

A. Yes ; in some engines they are arranged so as to be as 




Fig. 157. Stephenson Link, Open Rods. 



256 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

shown in Fig. 156, in which F is the center of the forward 
eccentric sheave, and B the center of the backing eccentric 
sheave ; A being the axle center, and M the lower rocker pin. 
In Fig. 157, the ordinary method of arrangement in American 
locomotives, it will be seen that when both eccentrics are on 
the same side of the axle as the link, the rods are not crossed. 

Q. What is the effect of raising the link so that the link 
block and rocker pin will be below both the eccentric rods? 

A. If the links are uncrossed, the effect will be to drive the 
block almost entirely with the lower eccentric rod. 

Q. What is the effect of lowering the link, so that the block 
and rocker pin mill "be above both the eccentric rods? 

A. If the links are not crossed, the effect will be to drive 
the block almost entirely with the upper eccentric rod. 

Q. What is the effect upon the valve motion of placing 
.the reverse lever in such a position as to bring the block at 
the center of the link? 

A. The motion of one eccentric and its rod will counteract 
that of the other, and either at or near the center of the link- 
slot or at "mid-gear," the block will have no motion either 
way, no matter which way the eccentrics run; or to put it 
another way, the valve will be in such a position as to run the 
engine neither way. 

Q. What name is applied to that position of the gear when 
ihe rocker pin is half way between the end of the eccentric 
rod and the center of the link slot? 

A. Half gear. 

Q. What name is given to that position of the gear when 
the rocker pin is at the center of the link slot? 

A. Mid-gear. 

Q. What name is given to that position of the gear when 
ihe block and rocker pin are at the end of the link slot? 

A. Full gear. 



THE STEPHENSON LINK. 257 

Q. With this ordinary link motion, how late can steam be 
cut off in the cylinder? 

A. The admission is fairly good up to about seven-eighths 
stroke, although after five-eighths it is such as to give best 
duty ; this depending of course on the lap of the valve as wei.1 
as on the travel given it by the gear ; the less lap giving the 
later possible cut-off. 

Q. What is the earliest cut-off at which a locomotive can be 
worked by this motion? 

A. There is poor admission as early as one-sixth, but fairly 
good admission as early as one-fourth stroke ; although even 
that early there is wire-drawing. 

Q. How does this motion affect the point at which release 
or exhaust takes place? 

A. The greater the valve travel the later the release or 
exhaust. 

Q. With this motion, and open rods, how does the lead 
vary with the link position? 

A. The lead increases w T ith the expansion ; that is, the earlier 
the cut-off the greater the lead. 

Q. With this motion, as ordinarily made } but with crossed 
rods, how does the link position affect the lead? 

A. The greater the expansion, or the earlier the cut-off, the 
less the lead. 

Q. Can this motion be so constructed that the lead will be 
constant with varying grades of expansion? 

A. Yes ; if the link be short, the eccentric rods long, and the 
two eccentrics properly set with different angles of advance, 
the lead variations become practically nothing. 

Q. In this motion, what must be the link-slot radius? 

A. Equal to the eccentric-rod length. 

Q. At which end does the angularity of the connecting rod 
tend to make cut-off later than the average or desired amount? 



258 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. At the forward end. 

Q. How then can the link be arranged to equalize the 
gear? 

A. By giving greater travel for the forward stroke. 

Q. What practical difficulty is there in the way? 

A. That as the link block moves upon a fixed arc while the 
link rises and falls, for each crank rotation the link will 
slip backward and forward a certain distance upon its block.. 
Should this slip be very great with the engine linked up in 
any particular position, and should the engine run a long time 
in that gear, the link faces would be worn, and there would 
be lost motion and irregular distribution owing to this wear 
and lost motion. 

Q. At what point is the slip the least? 

A. Near the point of suspension. 

Q. To what does this point in designing a link motion? 

A. To the fact that if desired to have a minimum of slip 
at a certain point of suspension, the saddle stud should be as 
nearly as possible over that point. 




Fig. 158. Usual Link. 




THE STEPHENSON LINK. 



259 



Q. What is an "open link''? 

A. One in which the eccentric pins instead of being back of 
the link as in Fig. 158, are as in Fig. 159. 

Q. What are the peculiarities of the open as compared with 
the ordinary link? 

A. The eccentric pins move a greater distance than the 
greatest travel of the link-block, and for this reason there 
must be a larger eccentric circle to get a given valve travel. 

0. To what class of locomotives is this adapted? 

A. To those where there is no rocker, as in British practice. 

Q. How is the open link usually hung? 

A. From the upper eccentric-rod pin ; and with the tumbling- 
shaft below the central line of motion.^ 

Q. What is a box link? 

A. One in which, as in Fig. 160, the pins are in the line of 
the slot itself. 

Q. What are the disadvantages of the box 
link? 

A. It is mechanically difficult to construct. " ~fj0f\ 

Q. Where is the box link best adapted? 

A. Where short eccentric throw is desired. 

Q. Why? 

A. The valve travel is always about the 
same as the eccentric-circle diameter. 

Q. Can the box link be used with advantage 
in places where the ordinary link with points of 
suspension back of the link is now used? 

A. Very seldom, by reason of the excessive 
slip which it gives in such positions ; and in 
such cases it is usually made a box in con- 
struction, but with the stud beyond the link arc. 

0. How about the use of the box link in 
place of the o P cn link? 1 %£&£ 1 " 




260 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. It is usually given the point of suspension within the 
link arc or between it and the main shaft. 

Q. Hozv is the link ordinarily made? 

A. In two main parts, the front and the back half (as shown 
in Fig. 155), with a filling piece 9 between them, and a saddle, 
10, by which it is suspended by the link lifter 12, raised by 
the reverse-shaft 13 ; its weight being counteracted by the 
counterbalance spring 14. 

Q. How is the weight of the shifting link and attached parts 
.counteracted? 

A. In American engines, by a spring ; in many European 
"engines, by a weight. 

Q. What is the objection to the weight? 

A. It is in rapid motion when the engine is running, and 
sometimes is slung from its position, damaging the valve-gear 
or other parts. 

Q. Where a Hat spiral spring is used to balance the link 
weight, how is its tension regulated? 

A. By turning the case and adjusting the bolt in any one 
of the holes shown in a circle in the illustration, Fig. 155. 

Q. Suppose that we have a shifting-link motion in which 
the greatest slip comes in full gear, and it is desired to reduce 
the slip ; how may this be done? 

A. In four ways ; ( 1 ) by increasing the angular advance ; 
(2) by reducing the valve-travel; (3) by increasing the length 
of the link; (4) by shortening the eccentric-rods. 

Q. Are link motions very common in which, when the cen- 
ters of the eccentric are between the axle and the link, the rods 
are crossed? 

A. No, except with independent cut-off motions. 

Q. What is the result of increasing link length? 

A. To lessen increase of lead toward full gear, and increase 
slip toward mid-gear. 



THE STEPHENSON LINK. 



261 



Q. What end of the link is generally connected to the go- 
ahead rod? 

A. The upper end. 

Q. What is the character of the motion that the link gets? 
A. Not only a rocking but a reciprocating or to-and-fro 
motion; the latter being what moves the slide valve. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of heating links and putting 
them in cold water to close them? 

A. It is apt to set up injurious strains therein. 

Q. How can the reversing action of the link be shown by 
simple skeleton sketches? 

A. As in Fig. 162, where the link is down and the engine 
in forward motion, and in Fig. 163, where it is in back-up 
gear. In Fig. 162 the forward port is uncovered, and the 
piston driven backward for running ahead; in Fig. 163 the 
back port is open and the piston driven forward for backing. 





Figs. 162 and 163. 
Reversing Action of Link. 



Fig. 164 
Stephenson Link. 



262 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

In both figures R is the rock-shaft center, U the upper 
rocker-pin center, B center of the lower rocker pin and of the 
link block, and the heavy curve L the center arc of the link. 
The vertical lines through the rocker pins and the shaft center 
aid in showing relative centers and center-line positions. 

Q. How does raising the link from central block position 
give more valve-travel? 

A. This is best. seen from the skeleton sketch, Fig. 164, in 
which L is the link, B the block, and the various dots show 
successive relative block positions with relation to the link in 
forward motion. The proportionate amounts of travel may 
be indicated by the distance AB, AC, etc. With the block in 
the link center the valve gets no motion; in successively 
removed block positions the travel is greater and greater. 

Q. Why is the Stephenson link saddle offset f 

A. To get as nearly as possible equal cut-off and lead at 
both ends. 

Q. How else could the valve motion be equalized? 

A. By raising the saddle above the link center. 

Q. Is this ever done? 

A. No; there are practical objections thereto. 

Q. When does a link slip most? 

A. In full gear. 

Q. What are the principal means of lessening slip? 

A. Giving more angular lead ; lessening travel ; lengthening 
the link ; shortening the eccentric rods. 

Q. How does setting the link-hanger stud back of the link 
arc equalize cut-off? 

A. It causes late cut-off at the forward port. This is 
brought about by locating the stud so that it causes the link 
to occupy a different position for the two cylinder ends ; being 
lower down on the rocker pin for the backward stroke, thus 
effecting later cut-off. The effect is precisely the same as if 



THE STEPHENSON LINK. 263 

the reverse lever lowered and raised the links at the proper 
time to cause an equalized cut-off. 

Q. In considering the point of suspension of the Stephenson 
link only in relation to the angularity of the main rod, where 
should it be to produce equal cut-off in both cylinder ends? 

A. Outside the link arc. 

Q. In relation to the angularity of the eccentric rods alone? 

A. Also outside the link arc. 

Q. Considering these two angularities together, but inde- 
pendent of any other element? 

A. Outside- the arc, at a distance equal to the sum of the 
individual corrections. 

Q. Considering the irregularity due to the offset of the 
eccentric-rod pins? 

A. Inside the arc, at a distance greater than the sum of 
the two distances just mentioned. 

Q. Taking all three into consideration? 

A. Where we now find it — somewhat back of the link arc. 

Q. What is the reason that with the ordinary link motion the 
valve lead is increased as the reverse lever is brought toward 
the center? 

A. The straps being moved back on the eccentrics produces 
the same effect as though the latter were moved ahead on the 
shaft — which is well known to increase the lead. 

Q. What influence has the length of the eccentric blades on 
the increase of lead in hooking up? 

A. The longer the blades, the less the increase in lead in 
hooking up. 

Q. How may the eccentric be moved on the shaft a very 
trifle without the difficulty of having it draw back in the old 
key-marks? 

A. By having a key with an offset; its cross-section being 
as shown in Fig. 164 A. 



264 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 




Fig 164A Offset 
Key. 



Q. Can shifting-link motions be arranged 
with constant lead for various gears? 

A. Yes ; but only for various gears of one 
direction of the motion; thus if the lead is 
constant for all forward notches from mid 
to full, it will vary on the backward ones. 



Q. Hozt* may this be done with the ordinary open-rod shift- 
ing-link motion? 

A. By giving the forward eccentric more angular advance 
than the backing one, of course experimenting with the 
angular advance given until the lead is constant at every 
position. In this case the lead opening will be constant for all 
forward gear positions, and will diminish from mid-gear to 
full back gear. 

Q. What would be the effect of giving the backing eccentric 
of this open-rod shifting-link motion more angular advance 
than the forward? 

A. To give constant lead for all backward gear positions y 
and varying lead for all forward — this of course implying that 
the proper excess of angular advance was given. 

Q. Is it possible to design a link motion zvhich will reduce 
lead as the links are drawn up? 

A. Yes. With all indirect motion engines the eccentric rods 
are open when the pin is on the forward center. If. they are 
crossed when the pin is in that position, lead will decrease as 
the links are drawn up. 

Q. Under what circumstances is the Stephenson link motion 
gear satisfactory? 

A. Where the eccentric rods are fairly long and straight, 
particularly in the old-type eight-wheel engines. 

Q. What is the result of having a very large sheave in the 
Stephenson gear? 

A. This, together with the lateral play that accumulates in 



STATIONARY LINKS. 



265 



the boxes and with the shortness of the rods, produces a bind- 
ing effect on the straps and the eccentrics ; there is also trouble 
with breakage of the supports for hanging the links. 

STATIONARY LINKS. 

Q. Would the same effect as zvith a shifting link be pro- 
duced if the link block were raised and lowered and the hight 
of suspension of the link remained the same? 




Fig. 165. Stationary Link. 

A. Valve motions are made, in which the link is not raised 
and lowered, but the block is ; but in this case the convexity 
of the link-slot curvature is toward the axle and eccentric, 
instead of the concavity being so turned. One such motion, 

T 




Fig. 166. Gooch Valve Gear, Open Rods. 



266 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

known as the Gooch gear, is outlined in Fig. 166, with the 
links uncrossed. In B is the center of the backing eccentric; 
F that of the forward eccentric; ^ being the saddle and the 
point of suspension of the link ; P the block attached to the 
radius-rod PV , that is raised and lowered by the hanger RT, 
which is carried by a bell-crank lever moved by a hand lever 
in the same way as with the Stephenson gear. 

THE GOOCH GEAR. 

0. Can the links of the Gooch or stationary-link motion be 
crossed? 

A. Yes; they are so shown in Fig. 167 (in which the hang- 
ers of both the link and the radius rod are omitted). 




Fig. 167. Gooch Valve Gear, Crossed Rods. 

Q. How about the lead in this stationary-link motion? 

A. It is constant for all gears; although the lead angle 
increases just as much as with the shifting link. 

Q. How about the lead with this motion, if the rods are 
crossed? 

A. It has constant lead both with crossed and with uncrossed 
rods. 

Q. In the Gooch motion, where is the point of connection of 
the suspension rod which carries the link itself, usually 
placed? 

A. Back of the curve, toward the axle. 



THE GOOCH VALVE GEAR. 267 

Q. Is this desirable? 

A. Xo ; it causes irregularities in the link movement, so that 
the sliding block slips up and down in the slot. 

Q. May this trouble be removed? 

A. Partly by placing the suspension point of the link near 
the center of the chord or straight line joining the slot ends. 

Q. To i^'hat class is the stationary-link motion, Fig. 163, 
best adapted? 

A. To those having no rocker. 

Q. Is the stationary link common in American practice? 

A. No ; because our engines are built with steam chests on 
top of the cylinders instead of on the side as in Europe. 

Q. In the Gooch gear } how should the suspension of the 
radius rod be placed, to permit the least slip of the block in 
the link slot? 

A. So that the vertical movement of the point at which this 
suspension rod is attached to the radius rod, shall be as little 
as possible ; best effected, in practice, by a suspension rod 
having a radius equal to the radius rod length. 

0. Are the facts concerning the points and manner of sus- 
pension of the Gooch link and radius rod correct for crossed 
as well as for open? 

A. Yes. 

0. What must be the length of the slot radius in the Gooch 
link? 

A. It must be equal that of the radius rod, as in Fig. 166. 

0. What is the objection to the Gooch gear for locomo- 
tives? 

A. It requires too great distance between driving axle and 
cylinder, by reason of the great length of radius rod between 
link and valve rod. 

Q. Hozc long has the Gooch motion been knoz^n? 

A. About as long as the Howe or Stephenson shifting link. 



268 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM, 

Q. Has it met vuith much favor ? 

A. Yes ; throughout Great Britain and the continent of 
Europe. 

Q. What is the objection to both the Stephenson and the 
Gooch gears? 

A. That as the center of motion of the valve moves farther 
and farther from the center of the driving axle, as the Steph- 
enson link or the Gooch radius rod is raised or lowered, the 
steam distribution is different in the forward stroke from what 
it is in the return or backward stroke. 

Q. What difference does crossing the rods of the Gooch link 
make? 

A. None. 

Q. What is the advantage of not crossing rods in the 
Stephenson and the Allan motions? 

A. There will be no reduction of lead in linking up, as 
crossed rods reduce the part opening at the earlier cut-off and 
cause unfavorable wire drawing. 

Q. What is the advantage of the Gooch link motion over the 
Stephenson? 

A. The link block and radius bar are lighter to lift in re- 
versing than the link. 

Q. What is the disadvantage? 

A. The sweep of the radius bar in its raising and lowering 
is obstructed by the front driving axle when the main connec- 
tion is made to the second or third pair of wheels. 

THE ALLAN GEAR. 

Q. By what style of valve motion may this difference in 
steam distribution in forward or backzvard motion be obviated? 

A. By one having a straight link slot, and in which there is 
a link and a radius rod, the former being raised as the latter 
is lowered. 

Q, What name is given to such a gear? 



THE ALLAN VALVE GEAR. 269 

A. The Allan or the Trick ; Allan and Trick having invented 
it independently, the former slightly before the latter. It is 
shown in outline in Fig. 167 A, with open rods. 




Fig. 167 A. Allan Valve Gear, Open Rods. 

Q. Can this link motion or gear be used with crossed rods? 

A. Yes. 

Q. What is the effect of the link position upon the lead, 
with the Allan gear? 

A. With crossed rods, the lead decreases with increase of 
expansion ; that is, the earlier the cut-off the less the lead. 

0. Is the variation of the lead greatest in the Allan or in the 
Stephenson gear? 

A. In the Stephenson. 

Q. What is one peculiar advantage of the Allan motion? 

A. Its parts are more perfectly balanced than those of the 
Stephenson, and it dispenses with the counterweight or spring 
peculiar to the latter. 

0. What is the objection to the Allan gear? 
A. The great distance between the steam chest and the 
driving axle, by reason of the long radius rod required. 

Q. What is the advantage of the Allan valve motion as 
compared with the Stephenson and the Gooch gears? 



270 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. As the link and valve rod are both moved in opposite 
directions, the angularities and distances in either direction 
are reduced to one-half those in either of the other motions, 
with an increase of lead amounting to about one-half of that 
obtained by the Stephenson gear in linking up. 

Q. What common point have the Stephenson, Gooch, and 
Allan motions? 

A. All are based on the two eccentrics being set in sym- 
metrical relations to the line of motion, one governing the 
forward and the other the backward movement of the engine ; 
the three differing principally from one another only in the 
matter of lead. 

SINGLE-ECCENTRIC GEARS. 

Q. Are two eccentrics necessary to produce the backing as 
well as the forward motion? 

A. No; there are many engines which have but one for 
each valve. 

THE HEUSINGER VON WALDEGG GEAR. 

Q. Can you describe a locomotive valve gear having variable 
expansion and reversing motion, with but one eccentric? 
A. Yes; the Heusinger von Waldegg, shown in Fig. 168 

1° 




Fig. 168. Waldegg Valve Gear. 



(very similar to the Walschaert gear, which preceded it by 
two years). There is on the driving-axle, the center of which 
is represented by O, a crank shown by the line O R, and a 



THE FINK VALVE GEAR. 271 

single eccentric, the center of the sheave of which is shown at 
£, and that is set at right angles to and following the crank. 
The eccentric-rod EC takes hold of the lower end of the curved 
link CC, which turns upon the fixed pin P, and the convexity 
of which is turned from the driving axle. In the curved slot 
in this link a sliding block K has up-and-down motion, being 
raised and lowered by a lifting link, which varies the degree 
of fore-and-aft motion given the block by the oscillation of 
the link. The radius rod BK extends from this block nearly 
horizontally toward the driving-axle, and its end B is pivoted 
to two levers MS, the upper ends of which are jointed to the 
valve-stem VV, while their lower ends turn in bearings S, 
below the crosshead W. Thus the levers MS get at their 
lower ends w9 a to-and-fro motion from the crosshead W , to a 
downward projection of which they are pivoted; the point B 
gets an oscillating motion from the link, and the upper ends 
M get a peculiar motion which is quite favorable to giving 
the valve a movement which will insure good distribution, 
favorable expansion, and reversibility of engine. 

Q. How about the lead on this gear? 

A. It is constant at all grades of expansion. 

0. What is the objection to this gear? 

A. It is too complicated. 

THE FINK GEAR. 

Q. Is there any other link motion by which variable expan- 
sion and reversibility of engine may be got with a single 
eccentric? 

A. Yes, the Pius Fink motion, the most simple of all, shown 
in outline in Fig. 169. The radius rod is moved up and down 
by a bell-crank lever. O is the driving axle, OR the crank, 
and D the eccentric, 180 from the crank: that is, directly 
opposite it; the sheave being fastened immovably to the link 
CC. A sustaining arm GQ is pivoted below, at G, at such a 



272 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

point that Q moves almost exactly along the line of stroke 
and the link oscillates around this point as the axle turns. NB 
is the radius rod, connected at B with the valve stem; and 

C 




G ( J 
Fig. 169. Fink Valve Gear. 

it is raised and lowered in the link slot by a bell-crank lever, 
fastened to a lifting link. The dead-point in the link is at J ; 
the direction in which the engine runs depends on whether the 
block is above or below /. The distance of the block from 
this dead point covers the grade of expansion; the greater 
the distance the less the expansion, and the later the cut-off, 
and vice versa. 

Q. What must be the radius of the arc of the Fink link? 

A. It must be equal to the radius rod length. 

Q. What are the disadvantages of the Fink link motion? 

A. Unequal steam distribution at various points of cut-off, 

Q. Is it a desirable gear for locomotives? 

A. No. 

Q. Might the curved link in the Fink gear be replaced by a 
straight one? 

A. Yes ; provided the link were lowered when the radius 
rod was raised, and vice versa, as in the case of the Allan. 

Q. Is there any way by which the variability of lead with 
the Fink gear may be practically neutralized, and the cut-off 
points made practically symmetrical? 

A. Yes; by judicious use of compression or cushion; as has 



THE WALSCHAERT VALVE GEAR. 



273 



been proved with the Porter- Allen stationary engine, where 
generally only half the link is used (reversibility not being 
necessary). 

THE WALSCHAERT GEAR. 

Q. What is the Walschaert link motion? 
A. One in which there are two distinct movements ; one 
from a single eccentric, and the other from the crosshead ; 




Fig. 170. Walschaert Valve Gear. 

the eccentric usually being a return crank from the main 
crank pin as shown in Fig. 170, with its center at right angles 
to the crank arm. The link swings from a fixed axis, and 
its arc has a radius equal to the radius-rod link. From the end 
of a short arm and bolted to the crosshead pin, is a union 
bar, pinned to one end of the "combination-lever," by the 
aid of which the eccentric and crosshead motions are so com- 
bined that the crosshead motion gives the angular advance 
which the eccentric would not, and thus gives the valve con- 
stant lead. 

Q. What does the crosshead connection impart? 

A. The motion for lap and lead at stroke end, when the 
link is in central position. 

Q. In mid-gear with the reverse lever in its central notch y 
what motion do the valve and the radius bar get with the 
Walschaert gear? 



274 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. Xone. 

0. Illicit is the action of the eccentric in the Walschaert 
gear'? 

A. Practically the same as though it were two eccentrics, 
one for the forward and one for the backward motion, dia- 
metrically opposite each other. The angle of advance in the 
Stephenson motion is taken care of by the. main crank in the 
crosshead connection. The latter motion being constant, the 
lead remains the same %t all points of cut-off. 

Q. In setting the eccentric crank of the Walschaert gear, 
from which end of the link should the forward, motion be 
taken? 

A. From the lower end; the eccentric crank will follow the 
main crank for an inside admission valve, and lead it for an 
outside valve. 

Q. Where should the connecting point of the radius bar 
and the combination lever be? 

A. Above that of the valve-stem connection, for inside 
admission, and below it for outside admission valves. 

0. Name the principal parts of the Walschaert gear? 




Fig. 171. The Walschaert Valve Gear. 

A. Referring to Fig. 171, the eccentric crank, the eccentric 
rod from this to the link, the radius bar from the lifting link 



THE WALSCHAERT VALVE GEAR. 275 

to the combination lever, the crosshead arm, union link 
between this and the combination lever, the radius bar con- 
necting this latter with the lifting link, the lifting frame con- 
necting this with the reverse shaft and arm and the reach rod 
from the reverse arm to the cab. 

0. State some of the reasons for employing Walschaert 
gear? 

A. It is lighter and more accessible for adjusting, cleaning, 
and oiling than the Stephenson gear must necessarily be on 
a large engine. By removal of the valve motion parts from be- 
tween the main frames more substantial cross bracing and 
stiffening of these frames is permitted. The increasing size 
of axles and greater throw of eccentrics requiring larger 
sheaves, coupled with the lateral play of driving boxes, results 
in rapid wear to Stephenson eccentrics and straps. The inertia, 
due to the increased size of these parts, long and heavy trans- 
mission, bars, etc., has a great deal to do with shortening the 
life of the Stephenson motion as a whole. A strong point of 
the Walschaert gear is that once properly set the valves re- 
main square longer than with the Stephenson. This goes far 
to offset the probable better general steam distribution obtained 
by the latter motion, for if the valves do not remain as set, 
the economy from that setting is lost. Theoretically, the 
constant lead of the Walschaert gear is a distinct disadvan- 
tage when applied to a locomotive which is to be operated at 
any considerable range of speed; but in practice this objection 
is more than offset by the greater ease with which the reverse 
lever can be handled. Occasionally, on very large locomo- 
tives equipped with Stephenson gear, engineers are afraid to 
handle the reverse lever while the engine is running, for fear 
of being pulled through the front of the cab, with the result 
that the reverse lever once set, stays in that position until the 
next stop. When adjustments of this importance are neglected 
the variable lead advantage favoring the Stephenson gear 



THE WALSCHAERT VALVE GEAR. 277 

is relatively of no consequence. With the Walschaert gear 
there is no excuse for not carrying the lever in the most 
economical position. 

Q. What can you say of the number of Walschaert gear 
engines in Europe? 

A. About nine-tenths of those on the continent are equipped 
with it. 

Q. What can you say of the reduction in weight by the use 
of the Walschaert over the Stephenson gear in a heavy passen- 
ger locomotive? 

A. In one case there is 1,745 pounds saved. A Stephenson 
gear weighing two tons is too heavy to be satisfactorily re- 
versed twice in every revolution on fast engines. 

Q. What may be said of the Walschaert gear in the matter 
of directness of transmission? 

A. It carries the moving force to the valve in nearly straight 
lines, avoiding springing and yielding of rocker arms, rocker 
shafts, and transmission bars. 

Q. What may be said of the permanence of adjustment? 

A. Having no large eccentrics, the adjustment is more per- 
manent. 

0. How are the connections in the Walschaert gear made? 

A. By pins and bushings. 

Q. What about its zvcar? 

A. As there are no large eccentrics, which would be diffi- 
cult to lubricate and which would wear unevenly, there is an 
advantage over the Stephenson type. 

0. What about smoothness of operation? 

A. The Walschaert having instead of two eccentrics mov- 
ing through wide angles, a link which oscillates through 
smaller angles, has less lost motion. 

Q. How may the valve motion of the Walschaert gear be 
graphically illustrated? 



278 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. In the same manner as that of the Stephenson motion, 
with a circle representing the eccentric path, the diameter of 
which is equal to the valve travel ; the yalve events may be 
determined in the same way by any of the methods (Zeuner, 
Bilgram, etc/). 

Q. In designing a Walschaert gear, what elements are taken 
up -first? 

A. The valve travel, the lead and the maximum cut-off, 
wdiich determines the valve lap. 

Q. How is the combination lever proportioned? 

A. The piston stroke being given, it is so proportioned that 
there is given to the valve, when the crosshead is moved from 
one end of the stroke to the other, a movement equal to the 
lap plus the lead. 

Q. How is the link located? 

A. So that the radius bar will have a length of at least 
eight (preferably ten to twelve) times the link-block travel. 

Q. What should be the link radius? 

A. The length of the radius bar. 

Q. For outside admission valves, how is the radius bar 
attached? 

A. To the combination lever between the valve stem and the 
crosshead connections. 

Q. How is it attached for inside admission valves (piston 
valves)? 

A. Above the valve stem. 

Q. How should the fulcrum of the link lie? 

A. As nearly as practical on a line drawn through the union 
of the radius bar and the combination lever, parallel with the 
valve-stem axis. 

Q. Hozv should the suspension point of the lifter be placed? 

A. So that the link block will travel as nearly as practicable 
on a chord of the arc described by any point of the link 



THE WALSCHAERT VALVE GEAR, 279 

wherever the block happens to be, when the link is swung into 
one of its extreme positions. 

Q. How is this most closely approximated? 
A. By a lifter through which the radius bar slides, not 
swinging with the link. 

Q. What will accomplish practically the same results? 
A. Properly suspended hanger, although the link-bar slip 
will be more in the back than in the forward motion. 

Q. In placing the lengthwise position of the link fulcrum, to 
what should consideration be given? 

A. To the eccentric-rod length, w r hich should be at least 
3J/2 times the eccentric throw and be as long as possible, with 
an approximately equal length of the radius and eccentric 
rods. 

Q. Where should the point of connection between the eccen- 
tric rod and the link motion be? 

A. As near to the center line of motion of the main rod as 
this correction for rod angularities will permit. 

Q. With what requirement is this often coupled? 
A. Excessive eccentric throw. 

Q. What is to be done in such a case? 
A. Compromise. 

Q. How about the fore-and-aft position of the point of con- 
nection between the eccentric rod and the link relative to the 
tangent of the link arc? 

A. This must be determined with reference to the angularity 
of the eccentric and main rods, so that the link is exactly in 
its central position when the piston is at either end of the 
stroke. 

Q. What about the angles through which the Walschaert 
link swings on both sides of its central position? 

A. They should be as nearly as practicable equal. 



280 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What about the effect of the angularity of the connect- 
ing rod on the cut-off? 

A. It should be reduced to a minimum, this having an effect 
upon determining the locus of the suspension point of the 
lifting link, as well as that of the eccentric-rod connection to 
the link. 

Q. How may the lap and lead of a valve with the Walschaert 
gear be measured? 

A. By turning the engine from one dead center to the other 
in any cut-off position. 

Q. How must the Walschaert gear be adjusted? 

A. With the cranks on. the dead centers, by lengthening or 
shortening the eccentric rods until the link takes such a posi- 
tion as to give the valve no motion when the link block is 
moved from extreme forward to extreme backward position. 

Q. What should be done before this change in the eccentric 
rod length is made? 

A. The valve-stem length should be examined, as it may be 
desirable either to plane off or to line under the foot of the 
link support, which might correct the lengths of both rods; 
or at least only one of these should need to be changed. 

Q. What about the difference between the two positions 
of the valve on the forward and back centers? 

A. This is twice the sum of the lap and lead, and cannot be 
altered except by changing the leverage relations of the com- 
bination lever. 

Q. What about the relation between lead and lap? 

A. The lap is determined by the lead, or vice versa. 

Q. How can it be divided for both ends? 

A. By lengthening or shortening the valve spindle. 

Q. How else may this adjustment be made? 

A. Within certain limits only, by shortening or lengthening 
the radius bar. 



THE WALSCHAERT VALVE GEAR. 



281 



Q. Why not do this? 

A. Because it is desirable to keep the length of the radius 
bar equal to that of the links, to meet other requirements. 

Q. How may the lead be increased? 

A. By reducing the lap, which would, however, also slightly 
advance the cut-off point. 

Q. What is the effect of increasing the lap? 
. A. To shorten the cut-off. 

Q. Give a diagram of the motion of the Walschaert gear? 

A. Fig. 173 is a combination of a Reuleaux and a Zeuner 
diagram; AB is the valve travel and engine stroke (on dif- 
ferent scales) AR the minimum desired cut-off. Drawing a 



$^-'k 




Fig. 173. Walschaert Valve Diagram. 

perpendicular RC from AB, cutting the arc ACB, decides the 
lead ; with this latter as a radius and on the same scale as the 
valve motion, draw an arc with A as the center. From C 
draw a line tangent to the lead circle around A; then the lap 
of the valve will be equal to the perpendicular distance from 
CS to O. The crank will be at OS when the valve commences 
to open, on the angle AOS in advance of the dead center, and 



282 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. ' 

on OC at cut-off. The valve will be in this middle position 
when the crank is at OG, parallel to SC through 0. Extend- 
ing this line to F, and with the exhaust lap as radius, draw 
the exhaust lap circle on the opposite side GF and make DE 
tangent to this circle; then OD will be the crank position at 
release. The exhaust will remain open from crank position 
OD until OE, when it closes, and compression takes place 
until the crank again reaches OS for admission; this com- 
pleting one revolution. Placing the Zeuner diagram upon 
this, draw from H a diameter perpendicular to FG, and with 
the radius OH of the eccentric circle as a diameter, draw the 
admission valve circle OVHnO and the lap circle with the 
steam lap as a radius ; the intersection occurs at V both with 
the circles and the radial lead down admission line O S to the 
cut-off point at the intersection at n. On the line OH set off 
the steam port width from L toward H equal to Lm; and with 
Om as radius draw the arc KmK. Then the shaded figure 
inclosed by the letters VKK'nL represents the steam-port 
opening during admission. The width of the port opening 
at any desired crank position is found by measuring the radial 
distance from O between the lap to the valve circles and the 
port line. 

The exhaust openings, determined in the same manner, are 
shown on the opposite side of FG, where the crank passes 
through arc DIE during exhaust with a positive exhaust lap 
equal to EF. When the exhaust edge of the valve lines with 
the port, this arc becomes GJF, 180 ; when there is negative 
lap (clearance) the exhaust will last during more than half a 
crank rotation. 

Q. Which has the fewer working joints, the Stephenson or 
the Wcdschaert valve motion? 

A. The Stephenson. 

Q. What is by many considered a second disadvantage of 
the Walschaert gear as compared with the Stephenson? 



HELMHOLTZ-WALSCHAERT GEAR. 



283 



A. A constant lead. 

Q. Is there any reason zvhy the Walschaert gear should 
produce economy in steam consumption over the Stephenson. 

A. Xot when they are both in the best condition. 

Q. Which gear remains secure longer, the Walschaert or the 
Stephenson? 

A. The Walschaert. 

Q. Which gives the best steam distribution at first? 

A. The Stephenson. 



^> -.Center L-re o * 




Fig. 174. Walschaert Valve Gear. 

Q. What is one advantage resulting from the absence of 
the link motion in the Walschaert gear? 

A. It is easier to give attention to the driving boxes. 

Q. What is the most inherent feature of the Walschaert 
gear? 

A. Constant lead at all cut-offs. 

Q. For ziliat classes of engines is the Walschaert motion 
desirable? 

A. Xarrow-gage engines, or others in which it is desirable 
to place the valve motion wholly outside the frames ; and very- 
large engines. 

THE HELMHOLTZ-WALSCHAERT GEAR. 

0. What is Helmholtzs variation of the Walschaert gear? 



284 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. He makes the link straight and connects the radius bar 
to the lifting link instead of to the link block ; compensating the 
curving of the link by the reversing-shaft or lifting-arm 
fulcrum being in a given position above the link, so that the 
line of suspension point of the lifting link forms a circular 
arc with its chord perpendicular to the center line of the 
radius bar, in its central position. The radius of this arc bears 
the same relation to the radius bar length, as the distance of 
the connection of this latter above the link block does to the 
length of the lifting link; the result being that this connec- 
tion is moving in an arc with a radius of the length of the 
radius bar, and the valve motion is obtained as in the direct 
Walschaert gear. 

Q. What advantages are claimed for this modification? 

A. The straight link is more easily made than the curved; 
and on large piston-valve engines with inside admission, the 
link fulcrum can be lowered by the radius bar connection 
falling over the link block, whereby the eccentric connection 
rod can be brought closer to the center line of the axle, with 
less link length and eccentric throw. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of the Helmholtz modification? 

A. There is little choice in the location of the reversing 
shaft or lifting arm fulcrum ; it admits of no other method of 
lifting the radius bar in linking up or reversing. 

THE JOY GEAR. 

Q. What is the Joy gear? 

A. A so-called "radial" gear, the link and valve receiving 
their motion from the connecting rod. Any point in the 
connecting rod has an elliptical motion more or less flat as it 
is nearer or farther from the wrist pin ; a second point on an 
arm which pivots on one end at such point on the main rod 
and at the other on a second arm pivoted under the cylinder, 
has an irregular motion, somewhat elliptic; and a third arm 



THE ALFREE-HUBBELL GEAR. 285 

pivoted at the lower end at such point and bearing near the 
upper end a link block and connected at its upper end to the 
valve stem gives the valve a to-and-fro movement, the 
amount of which varies with the relative position of the block 
and link. 

Q. What is the special advantage of the Joy gear with 
inside-connected engines? 

A. It gives great capacity to enlarge the cylinders. 

Q. What are other good points of the Joy gear? 

A. Simplicity of working parts, and absence of frictional 
surfaces compared with the large surfaces of the eccentric 
gear; simplicity of repairs to the joint pins, and the fact of 
there being less derangement to the valve motion when such 
joints require repair; the working parts being brought forward 
are directly under the runner's observation and within his 
reach; every part is accessible even when the engine is run- 
ning; the cylinders may be closer together in inside-cylinder 
engines, and there is permitted a larger bearing on the crank 
shaft for single-framed engines. 

Q. What are the principal disadvantages of the Joy gear? 

A. (i) It is liable to extra wear of parts for outside- 
connected engines; (2) there is more danger of breakage of 
connecting rods; (3) the vertical play of the main axle on a 
rough track interferes with regular steam distribution. 

THE ALFREE-HUBBELL GEAR. 

Q. What is the Alfree-Hubbell gear attachment? 

A. An attachment to the ordinary Stephenson motion, by 
which the valve is given a symmetrically irregular motion, 
causing it to open and close quickly; and which is of special 
importance at high speed and early cut-off, giving about the 
same effect as with a valve having extraordinarily long travel 
and somewhat delayed exhaust and compression. 



286 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What is the general construction of this gear? 

A. For the knuckle pin joining the valve stem to the rocker 
arm there is substituted a small crank shaft, to the crank of 
which the valve stem is connected, the shaft being left free 
to rotate in the rocker-arm bearing: To this shaft there is 
keyed a rack engaging a toothed wheel center oscillating on 




Fig. 175. Alfree-Hubbell Valve. 

the rocker shaft by a lever connection from the crosshead. 
Fig. 175. 

Q. What motion does this give the valve? 

A. A composite one ; one direct from the eccentrics and one 
from the crosshead by the rotation of the crank on the 
knuckle-pin shaft, in such way that the two motions coincide 
at opening and closing, but are in opposition at the extreme 
travel of the valve, when the latter is nearly still, while the 
main crank passes through a comparatively large angle with a 
uniformly open port, and the valve closing is rapidly hastened 
in the same manner as the opening, causing quick and sharp 
cut-off. The exhaust and compression are similarly affected 
by this alternating accelerating and retarding motion of the 



THE YOUNG VALVE GEAR. 237 

valve, delaying the exhaust and compression, even at early 
cut-off. 

Q. When is the advantage greatest? 

A. At high speed, when a relatively high pressure is 
obtained — which again is dependent on the boiler capacity. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of this gear? 

A. It is complicated to attach, especially on certain types of 
engine where the driving wheels are straddled by the guide 
yoke, thereby limiting the space required for rocker arms and 
bearings. 

THE YOUNG VALVE GEAR. 

Q. In what does the Young valve arrangement consist? 

A. Chiefly in the application of Corliss valves to the loco- 
motive, with one valve for both admission and exhaust at each 
end of the cylinder. Each valve has double admission and 
exhaust ports. The steam ports are practically opposite each 
other; the relation of the edges of the valve port to these 
corresponding to that of the valve edges to the steam ports of 
the ordinary flat D slide valve, forming the steam laps, lead 
and exhaust laps, or clearances, as the case may be. The ex- 
haust cavity is a passage diametrically through the valve, of 
sufficient width on one side to combine both steam ports with 
the main exhaust port simultaneously during exhaust. At right 
angles to the exhaust passage is a similar but somewhat larger 
cavity, corresponding to the steam-chest, with transverse pas- 
sages through the valve body alternating with the exhaust 
passages ; and the lap and exhaust edges are surrounded by 
carefully fitted slats, both on sides and ends, to prevent 
leakage. 

Q. Hozu is the motion transmitted? 

A. Through a pivoted wrist plate to the valve from an 
ordinary Stephenson valve motion. By pivoting the wrist 
plate on the arm of a bell crank, the other arm of which is 
connected with a union rod to a short arm on the reverse 



288 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

shaft, the wrist plate is raised and lowered by the motion of 
the reverse lever; producing a moderate increase in lead, an 
earlier exhaust and later compression than the direct Stephen- 
son motion' produces, in linking up. 

Q. What is the main advantage of this gear? 

A. Quicker admission, closing and exhaust, due to the 
double port openings, and the small resistance to the valve 
motion, as compared with the slide valve, in being completely 
balanced. In common with the Allfree gear it gives a higher 
average pressure at high speeds than the ordinary valve. It 
involves additional complications over the ordinary gear, 
requiring special skill, both in its manufacture and adjust- 
ment, which to some extent counterbalances the above-named 
advantages. 

GEARS WITHOUT LINKS OR ECCENTRICS. 

Q. Could a locomotive be made zvithout links eccentrics, 
steam chest, or slide valves? 

A. Yes, by employing oscillating cylinders. About twenty- 
five of such engines are in service, mostly on logging roads. 
It has oscillating cylinders and the piston rods are coupled 
direct to the crank pin. The engine is reversed by a four- 
way cock, which changes the steam pipe into an exhaust pipe, 
and vice versa. The cylinders oscillate on a trunnion which 
passes through the saddle casting. This trunnion passes 
through a coiled spring which pulls the cylinder up 
against the saddle, allowing it to turn and yet make a steam- 
tight joint. There is no way to shorten the cut-off, so the 
engine must work "down in the corner" both ways. 

VALVE-MOTION MODELS. 

Q. Describe the Colvin valve-motion exhibitor? 

A. This is based on the fact that a link gives the same 
motion as an eccentric moved across the shaft to secure a 
varying valve travel. It consists of a steel frame n by 14 



VALVE MOTION MODEL. 



289 



inches supported by removable legs and carrying a disk, 
motion plate, valve slide, and crank. The disk is divided into 
inches of piston travel ; the crank in position shown has 




Fig. 176. Colvin Valve Motion Exhibitor. 

started and piston has moved nearly an inch. Any type of 
valve, seat, and balance plate can be used and the exact results 
noted. The whole model packs into the box, which makes 
the stand for it. Fig. 176. 

0. What will it show? 

A. The movement of anv valve, full size up to 7-inch travel, 



290 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

for either regular link motion with increasing lead as engine 
is hooked up, decreasing lead or constant lead as with the 
Walschaert, Joy, or any radial valve motion. 

Q. Hozv is this done? 

A. The crank is attached to a motion plate having three 
slots, two curved, the center one straight. The rod that moves 
the valve slide goes into either slot, according to motion 
desired ; the curved slots give the varying lead, straight center 
slot the constant lead. Moving this rod in the slot is the same 
as moving the reverse lever of a locomotive to or from the 
center, and affects valve travel and lead in just the same way. 

THE MAIN AND SIDE RODS. 

Q. Hozv is the pressure on the piston communicated to the 
wheel so as to make it rotate in the same direction, no matter 
whether the piston is making its inward or outward single 
stroke? 

A. By the connecting rod and crank. 

0. What is the character of motion of the connecting rod? 

A. The front end has a true reciprocating motion exactly 
corresponding to that of the crosshead; the rear end has a 
true rotary motion exactly corresponding to that of the crank 
pin ; all intermediate points have motions combining the 
two classes, and with more or less of the reciprocating or 
rotary character according as they are nearer the crosshead 
or the crank pin. 

O. Is there any loss of power by the use of the connecting 
rod and crank, by reason of the fact that the angle at which 
the connecting rod acts on the crank and that at which it 
receives the pressure of the piston, constantly vary in each half 
rotation of the crank pin? 

A. None whatever, except that due to friction. 

0. At what point in the rotation have the piston and cross- 
head the most power to cause the crank to rotate? 



CONNECTING ROD. 



291 



A. At that point (about mid-stroke of the crosshead) where 
the crank pin is about at the uppermost or the lowermost point 
in its rotation. 

Q. How much pozver have the piston and crosshead to turn 
the crank pin when the centers of the wrist pin, the crank pin 
and the main driving axle are in the same straight line? 

A. None whatever. 

0. Hozv then is the engine kept going? 

A. The cranks are quartering, so that when one is on the 
dead center the other is about at its maximum power. 

Q. Is there no means of preventing this difficulty of having 
dead centers ? 

A. Quartering the cranks gets around it w r ell enough. 

Q. What sort of a stress does the connecting rod get? 

A. When the piston is making its out stroke (toward the 
stuffing box) it is in compression; on the return or in stroke, 
in tension. 

Q. What is the most common shape of connecting rod? 

A. There are flat wrought-iron bars, larger at the crank- 



-BB 



(©) 



B=r- 




Fig. !77- R °d Ends. 

pin than at the wrist-pin end, and having a cross section either 
rectangular, or modified from the rectangular by milling out 



292 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



wide flutes to remove material from the lengthwise center 
line, where material gives the least strength. 

Q. Why are they larger at the crank-pin than at the zcrist- 
pin end? 

A. Partly because the crank pin should be larger than the 
w r rist pin, and partly because experience has shown that that 
end is the more liable to break. 

Q. What class of bearing have the wrist pin and crank pins, 
in the rod ends? 

A. There are two classes. In one the rod is enlarged into 
a stub end having a | j -shaped strap by which half-brasses 
are held in place around the pin, and which may be set up as 




© 






Fig. 178. Rod Ends. 

desired. In the other, the pins turn in bushes hydraulically 
pressed into the eyes in the rod ends, and which have no 
capability of adjustment; in fact cannot be taken out except 
at the shop. 



CONNECTING ROD. 293 

Q. Hon 1 is the adjustment of the brasses effected, with the 
ordinary stub end and strap? 

A. There are keys by which the brasses may be closed up 
on the pins, up to that point where their faces touch ; then to 
get any more adjustment they must be taken out and their 
faces filed off. 

0. In this latter case what is the shape of the hole in which 
the pin rotates, after the brasses have been thus planed off or 
filed off and set up? 

A. Its outline is that formed by two circular arcs, each 
rather less than a semicircle. 

0. How are the crank-pin journals oiled? 

A. By metal cups attached to the straps, where the stub-end 
type of rod is used, or to the enlarged head of the rod where 
solid bushings are employed. Sometimes also, in the stub-end 
type, there are on the under side of the straps recesses or 
"cellars" for oil, which is dashed up against the pins, through 
holes in the under strap leg. 

0. What material is employed for the brasses? 

A. Sometimes brass, in other cases bronze ; these being 
sometimes plain, but generally supplied with babbitt plugs or 
strips cast therein to lessen friction and wear. 

0. When a main rod has one key back of the crosshead pin 
and another back of the main crank pin, what is the effect on 
the effective rod length when both keys are tightened by reason 
of the brass-wear? 

A. It will be left practically the same. 

O. Where one key is at the front of the crank pin and the 
other back of the wrist pin, what is the effect on the effective 
rod length when both are driven up? 

A. To lengthen it. 

0. Which end or side of a main-rod brass gets the most 
wear? 



294 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. The back one ; this being frequently babbitted. 

Q. What is the advantage of making a main rod with a fork 
and strap end? 
A. Convenience. 

Q. The disadvantage? 

A. If the strap breaks, the rod is out of service ; and it 
can not be taken down on the forward center. 

Q. Hozv is a solid rod-bushing kept from turning in the rod? 
A. There is a stud screwed down through the rod eye and 
the bushing, and in this the oil cup is screwed. 

Q. What disadvantages attend the use of a connecting rod? 

A. (i) The fact that one end has a rotary and the other a 
to-and-fro movement, making it difficult to balance; (2) the 
irregularities in steam distribution caused by its angularity. 

Q. Is this irregularity greatest with a proportionately long 
or a proportionately short rod? 

A. Where the rod is proportionately short. 

0. What effect has the angularity of the connecting rod on 
the lead? 

A. Decreases it in front, increases it behind. 

Q. What effect on the cut-off? 

A. Increases it in front, lessens it behind. 

Q. What effect on the exhaust? 

A. Increases it in front, lessens it behind. 

0. How can this be counteracted? 
A. By back-setting the saddle pin. 

Q. What is the use of coupling rods? 

A. To enable the use of more than one pair of drivers, thus 
lessening the weight on any one axle, and on any one point 
of the rail. 

Q. What is the disadvantage? 



CONNECTING ROD. 295 

A. They lengthen the rigid wheel base and somewhat com- 
plicate the difficulties of balancing. 

Q. What other names are given coupling rods? 
A. Parallel rods, side rods. 

Q. What is the form given coupling rods? 

A. Usually they are flat wrought-iron bars enlarged at the 
ends to receive the pin brasses, generally with the side milled 
out to remove material where it gives less strength. Plain flat 
rods of rectangular section are common, but modern designs 
usually have the fluted or I-section. 

Q. Why is a coupling rod or side rod sometimes called a 
parallel rod? 

A. Because it is always parallel with the one on the oppo- 
site side and with the rails. 

Q. What shape is usually given to parallel rods or side 
rods? 

A. About the same cross section as to connecting rods or 
main rods, but of equal width at each end, or even slightly 
wider in the middle of length than at the ends. 

Q. What classes of wear and stress do side rods get y that 
main rods do not? 

A. There is play between the axle boxes and wedges, that 
lets the axles run out of adjustment. If the track is uneven 
the rods will be thrown out of parallel; if the tires wear 
unevenly, that changes the effective diameters of the wheels 
and makes one of them either slip or skid ; and they also 
suffer on curves, when brakes are put on suddenly, when run- 
ning on slippery rails, or when sand is used without judgment. 

Q. What is advantage of a coupling rod wider in the middle 
than at the ends? 

A. Increased stiffness in the vertical plane. 

0. What is the advantage of a coupling rod thinner in the 
center than at the ends? 



296 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. Lateral flexibility. 

Q. In consolidation engines, which coupling rods have the 
most work to do? 
A. The center ones. 

Q. Why are the side rods of a Mogul engine in two pieces, 
forming a front and a rear side rod 'for each side of the 
engine? 

A. To enable the driving axles to move up and down in 
their pedestals, independently of each other. 

Q. Why is not the pin which connects the front and the 
rear side rod of a Mogul engine back of the main pin? 

A. To keep it from being covered by the main rod, which in 
Mogul engines is usually outside of the coupling rods. (See 
Fig. 181.) 

Q. Should the pin betzveen the front and the back coupling 
rods be near to the main pin or far from it? 

A. Near, to lessen the strain on the main-pin strap. 

Q. Why are there three coupling rods on each side of a 
consolidation engine? 

A. To enable its driving axles to rise and fall independently 
of each other. 

Q. What prevents the coupling rods of an engine which has 
more than two pairs of drivers from breaking on an uneven 
track? 

A. They have knuckle joints permitting vertical motion ; 
that is, at their forward ends they have a separate pin back of 
the crank pin on the big end of the rod immediately before 
them. 

Q. What are the various relative positions of the rods on 
each side? 

A. Fig. 179 shows the main rod outside the coupling rod; 
in Fig. 180, it is inside. In Fig. 181, the crosshead is outside 



CONNECTING ROD. 



297 



both the back and the second coupling rods. In Fig. 182. 
there are back, second, third and fourth, rod being outside of 
all of them and between the second and third. In Fig. 183, 




Figs. 179 and 180. 
A. Main Rod. B. Parallel Bar or Coupling Pin. i. Front Stub-end. 2. Back 
Stub-end. 3. Strap. 4. Brass. 5. Key. 

there are back, second, third and fourth coupling rods, the 
connecting rod being outside of all of them and between the 
second and third. 

Q. What is the usual way of connecting the coupling rods 
of a consolidation engine? 

A. The middle rod connects two wheels; its straps have 
forged ends to which the other coupling rods are connected. 
(See Fig. 182.) 

Q. In eight-zi'heel engines, which usually come outside, the 
main rods or the coupling rods? 

A. The coupling rods ; except on narrow-gage engines, 
where it is sometimes the other wav. 



298 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. In consolidation engines wltat is the usage about knuckle 
joints? 

A. There is one back of the main pin, another in front of 




Figs. 181, 182 and 183. Rods, Straps and Brasses. 

A. Main-rod. B. Back Parallel Rod. C. Second Parallel Rod. D. Third Parallel 

Rod. K. Fourth Parallel Rod. 1. Front Stub-end. 2. Back Stub-end. 

3. Strap. 4 Brass. 5. Key. 



CONNECTING ftOD. 299 

the coupling rod pin ; or back of and close to the pins in the 
third pair of drivers, and in front of and close to the pins in 
the second pair. 

Q. Why are the coupling-rod pins in Mogul and ten-wheel 
engines smaller than on an eight-wheeler? 

A. Because in the former there is greater distribution of the 
pressure. 

Q. On this principle may consolidation engines have smaller 
coupling-rod pins than Moguls? 

A. Yes. 

Q. Hozv are coupling-rod brasses usually keyed? 

A. With two keys at one end and one at the other, or with 
two at each end. 

Q. Why is the strap on the front end of the connecting rod 
usually rounded off at its end? 

A. To give the strap clearance in the crosshead. 

0. Should main-rod brasses be babbitted? 
A. They have been found to run cooler with than without 
babbitt, even where made of phosphor bronze. 

0. Should side-rod brasses be babbitted? 

A. Yes, but it is not so often done with main rods. 

0. Hozv may side-rod brasses be protected from dust? 

A. By having caps cast on them. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of such caps? 

A. They hinder inspection of the pin. 

Q. Should the brasses extend to the edges of the strap? 

A. Yes, to exclude dust, and to prevent shouldering of the 
strap. 

Q. Where does the knuckle joint in a sectional side rod 
come into play? 

A. (i) Where the track is uneven, (2) on frogs, (3) in 
entering a turntable. 



300 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

O. How many knuckle joints on a side have six-wheel- 
con neeied engines? 

A. One; usually back of the main pin. 

0. Are any engines made without parallel rods? 

A. Yes ; the Webb three-cylinder compounds shown else- 
where, in which the low-pressure cylinder drives one axle and 
the two high-pressure ones drive another. 

Q. In ten-wheel, Mogul, and consolidation engines, which 
rod usually takes hold of the inner journal of the main crank 
pin? 

A. The coupling rod. 

Q. What is the advantage of solid pressed-in bushings in 
coupling rods? 

A. There are fewer fitted parts, therefore less labor and 
expense in construction; fewer parts subject to breakage, and 
the only wear comes on the bush, thus enabling repairs to be 
effected more rapidly and cheaply than where bolts, keys, and 
straps require renewal ; also there is insurance against being 
thrown out of adjustment by careless keying; prevention of 
too frequent adjustment where an engine is run by two or 
more crews in the same day. 

Q. The disadvantage? 

A. When worn it cannot be reduced to fit the pin, but must 
be scrapped, unless it can be bored out and used somewhere 
else on a larger pin where the same sized eye and external 
brass dimensions are used. 

Q. Hozv is the bush kept from turning? 
A. By a hollow stud screwed clear through the rod at the 
eye and into which is screwed the oil cup. 

Q. What is the advantage in fluting a rod? 
A. The metal is put in the top and bottom flanges, where it 
will do more good than in the neutral axis. 



CONNECTING ROD. 



301 



Q. What is the reason that a loose brass will eause heating 
as well as a tight one? 

A. Because of the pounding action. 

Q. Hozv much larger should the hole in the brass be than 
the pin? 

A. Usually about 1/32 inch. 

Q. How is an engine to be keyed up, when the front end 
rod-straps are as shown in Fig. 184? 




Fig. 184. Strap Joint. 

A. The bolt must be loosened up first, else it cannot be 
keyed up. 

0. In what position and condition should the engine be for 
setting up the front end main-rod brasses? 

A. On the lower quarter and no steam on, so that the rod 




Fig. 185. Rod Ends. 



302 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

hangs on the front section of the brass, and only the back 
brass section need be moved ; further, the brass will be keyed 
to the largest part of the wrist pin. 

0. For both ends? 

A. On the center, especially where the pins are out of round. 

Q. How about keying up side-rod brasses where there are 
three keys? 

A. They should be keyed while on the center. 

Q. Where there are two keys, one behind each pin? 

A. It makes no difference where the pins stand ; both keys 
should be driven home to keep the brasses from working in 
the straps. 

Q. What is the disadvantage, in a consolidation engine, of 
having the main rod on the back driver and the eccentric on 
the second? 

A. The back wheel has to move far enough to take up lost 
motion in its axle box as w 7 ell as the lost motion in the main 
connection, parallel rods, and the connection of the side rod 
to the second wheel, before the valve motion feels it. 

Q. What is a disadvantage of solid-rod brasses? 

A. After heating they are always loose and have to be 
shimmed or renewed. 

Q. What is a common cause of trouble with rod straps? 

A. The brass seat is planed off the same width as the stub 
end; and when it is worn, liners must be riveted in. 

Q. Hozv may this trouble be lessened? 

A. By slotting the seat a little narrower than the stub end, 
so as to give plenty of metal for wear. (See Fig. 186.) 

— » 






lug. 1S6. Connecting Rod Strap 



CRANKS AND CRANK PINS. 303 

CRANKS AND CRANK PINS. 

Q. What name is given to such cranks as are used on the 
ordinary English inside-cylinder locomotive? 

A. Center cranks ; inside cranks ; full cranks. 

Q. What name is given to such cranks as are used on the 
ordinary American standard outside-cylinder locomotive? 

A. Half cranks. 

Q. How are the inside cranks or full cranks of an English 
locomotive usually made? 

A. By forging a large mass on the axle, at the place where 
there is to be a crank, and slotting it out to form the crank, 
then turning the pin in place ; or by hydraulically bending the 
axle to the required throw, and turning the pins in place. 

0. What is the objection to the inside crank? 

A. Frequent breakage of the crank axle. 

Q. How are the cranks of a standard outside-cylinder 
American locomotive made? 

A. Each one is a part of the driving wheel on that side ; in 
the same way as what is known as a disk crank on a stationary 
engine. 

Q. In the ordinary type, how are the cranks arranged? 

A. One of them at right angles to the other, in order that 
when one of the two is on its dead center, the other can start 
the engine. 

O. Of ivhat material are its crank pins? 

A. Of tough wrought iron of the very best quality, or of 
low steel ; turned and preferably ground to exact size and 
shape, and then either driven in or pressed into the holes bored 
therefor in the wheels. 

O. Are these holes usually cylindrical or tapering? 

A. Cylindrical. 

0. How is the pin kept from coming out, in case the holes 
and the pin ends are tapering? 



304 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. By a nut and key on the inside of the wheel. 
Q. What is the advantage of steel crank pins? 
A. They will stand more pressure than wrought iron, with 
out abrasion. 

0. What is their disadvantage? 

A. They are more apt to snap. 

0. What is the disadvantage of excessive crank-pin length? 

A. The pins are liable to break off, especially on curves. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of excessive crank-pin thick- 
ness? 

A. Excessive friction. 

Q. What sort of stress does the' crank pin get? 

A. In an outside-connected engine' a bending stress and also 
one tending to shear it off at the point where inserted in the 
wheel. In one with inside cylinders the tendency, besides to 
bend it, is to shear it off where it enters the crank web. 

O. What is the advantage of having the inner journal of a 
main crank pin concave? 

A. To make it less rigid and permit more flexibility on 
curves. 

Q. Under what circumstances is the rotative effect of the 
pistons on the cranks the greatest? 

A. When the two cranks are in front of the axle and at 
angles of 45 ° with the horizontal. 

0. When is it the least? 

A. When both cranks are back of the axle and about 45 
from the horizontal line. 

Q. What is the reason of this? 

A. Because when both cranks are in front of the axle, both 
connecting rods are in position to do maximum work; when 
one is in front and the other back of the axle, one is at best 
advantage and the other at poorest; when both are back oE 
the axle, both are at minimum power. 



CRANKS AND CRANK PINS. 305 

O. What other advantage is there in working steam with 
cut-off, besides saving steam? 

A. There is a tendency to equalize the connecting-rod action 
on the crank all through the rotation, there being greatest 
steam pressure where the rod has least leverage on the crank 
pins, and vice versa. 

0. JVhat is the dead center? 

A. That point when the crank pin is in the same horizontal 
line with the crosshead pin and the wheel center. 

0. Hozv can the dead center be found on an engine that has 
lost motion in the main rod? 

A. By marking a line on the guides and crosshead on the 
out stroke and then one on the in stroke ; the correct dead 
center will be half way between the two marks. 

0. JVhat are the quarters? 

A. Those points at which the crank pin is 90 from the 
dead centers. 

Q. What determines the actual pressure on the crank pin at 
any given part of the stroke? 

A. The difference between the mean effective pressure and 
the inertia of all the reciprocating parts which act on the pin. 

Q. Given weight of reciprocating parts of 500 pounds, train 
speed /$ feet per second, 5-foot drivers, 20-inch stroke, 
effective piston pressure 30,000 pounds, crank position 55 ° 
above the center, in the first half stroke, what is the pressure 
on the pin? 

A. The horizontal distance of crank pin from axle can be 
calculated or measured. In this case it is 8.19 inches; that is. 

75 X 2 
0.819 the crank length. The velocity of the pin is = 30 

5 
feet a second. The square of 30 is 900 ; then the inertia of 
the reciprocating parts for that crank position is 0.031 X 



306 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



500X900X0.819=11,395 pounds. Deducting this from 
the piston pressure at that position we have 30,000 — n,395 = 
18,600 pounds as the actual pressure on the crank pin. 

Q. What is the advantage of making crank pins hollozv? 

A. Principally being able to judge from the borings whether 
or not the pins are free from internal flaws. 

Q. Is the tendency toward increasing or diminishing the 
diameter of crank pins? 

A. Toward increasing it. 

Q. What is likely to happen if the main-rod brasses are 
keyed up at the back end when the engine is on the center? 

A. The brasses will be closed on the small diameter of the 
pin, if the latter is worn out of round, and the "high" part 
will be crowded when running. 

Q. What is the usual shape of a much-worn crank pin? 

A. A cross between elliptic and D shaped; the longest 
diameter being near the horizontal one when the crank is on a 
center. 




Fig. 187. Wheel and Crank. 



0. If an engine always runs in one direction, how will the 
crank pins ivear? 



CRANKS AND CRANK PINS. 



307 



A. Heart shaped ; flattened on one side when on the quarter. 

Q. If she runs in both directions equally? 
A. Elliptically (often miscalled "oval"). 

0. Then in -which position slwuld the crank-pin brasses be 
keyed? 

A. When on the center, as shown in Fig. 188. 




Fig. iSS. Wheel and Crank. 



0. What part of the stroke would be the proper place to 
stand an eight-wheel engine to key the brasses in the back end 
of main rod ; and why? 

A. When the pin is new there is no choice of position; but 
if worn, it should be done with the crank on the center, for 
the brasses are then keyed against the largest pin diameter. 

0. How are crank pins distinguished or classified? 

A. Crank pins are distinguished as main pins if on the 
driving pair turned directly by the main rod ; front pins if on 
the forward coupled or driving wheels ; back pins if on the 
rear drivers ; and front intermediate or back intermediate pins 
if on front or back intermediate wheels between the main and 
the front or back drivers, as the case may be, 



308 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



THE ECCENTRIC MOTION. 

0. Would it be possible to make the ordinary slide-valve 
engine reversible with only a single eccentric for each cylinder? 

A. Not without great complication of mechanism ; it is 
however done, as in the Walschaert and Heusinger gears, 
described elsewhere. 

0. To zvhat does a link operated by two eccentrics corre- 
spond, as a mechanical equivalent? 

A. To one operated by a movable eccentric. 

Q. In zvhat is it superior to a movable eccentric? 

A. In that its motion can be accurately adjusted so as to 
do away greatly with the irregularities in cut-off and exhaust 
closure, due to the connecting-rod angularity. 

Q. Is there any other way by which the valves could be 
given to-and-fro motion from a rotating axle, than by eccen- 
trics? 

A. Yes, cranks might be used, the eccentric 
being in effect a crank, the pin of which is 
so enlarged as to include the shaft. Thus, 
ordinarily, the crank-pin is smaller than the 
shaft and at some distance therefrom ; in 
Fig. 189, it is of the same size; in Fig. 190, 
the pin is larger than the shaft, but does not 
inclose it; in Fig. 191, the pin not only is 
larger than the shaft, but incloses it and has 
become an eccentric. 

Q. If an eccentric is turned dozvn half an 
inch in a lathe, how- much will its throw be 
altered? 
A. Not at all. 

0. What determines the throve? 

A. The distance from the center of the axle to that of the 
eccentric sheave. 




Fig. 189. 

Crank Axle. 



ECCENTRIC MOTIONS. 



309 



Q. What is the effect of boring out and closing the eccentric 
strap? 

A. To change the travel of the valve. 

0. What is the remedy? 

A. Lengthening the eccentric rod. 





Fig. 190. Crank and Axle. Fig. 191. Eccentric and Strap. 

0. How tight should the keys of eccentric strap bolts be? 
A. So tight that the nuts cannot work back more than a 
turn, else straps will probably break. 

THE ROCKER ARM. 

0. What would be the most simple way of getting the motion 
of the eccentric to the valve? 

A. By an eccentric rod direct from the strap. 

0. Why cannot this be done in the case of a locomotive? 

A. Because it is usually necessary to have two eccentrics 
to be able to reverse the engine, and to have a link to be able 
to alter the throw for the purpose of varying the period of 
admission and degree of expansion. 

Q. With tzvo eccentrics and a link motion, is the valve driven 
directly from the link? 

A. No ; there is a rocker arm to transfer the motion from 
the lower plane to the higher one ; also from the frames to 
outside. 



810 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

•Q. What oilier effect upon the motion has the rocker arm? 
A. It reverses it, making it necessary to set the eccentrics 
differently from what would be the position were there no 
rocker arm. 

0. What is a direct-motion engine ? 
A. One without a rocker. 

Q. In a direct-motion engine, when the engine is running 
ahead, which eccentric leads? 
A. The forward one. 

Q. Are most American locomotives direct or indirect motion 
engines? 

A. Indirect. 

Q. Where there is no rocker, will the eccentric be ahead of 
the crank, even with it, or back of it? 

A. Ahead of it. 

Q. What is the difference between the motion of an eccen- 
tric and that of a crank? 

A. There is none, except that the eccentric rod cannot drive 
the sheave, while the crank may be driven by the connecting 
rod. 

Q. What constitutes a "direct" or an "indirect" locomo- 
tive? 

A. These terms apply to the valve motion only. If the valve 
moves with the eccentric rod, it is direct; if opposite thereto, 
indirect. The use of a rocker with its bearing between the 
eccentric rod or link connection and the valve rod makes an 
indirect valve motion. If a rocker is employed, with bearing 
at either end, it transmits the motion "directly." 

ANGULAR ADVANCE. 

Q. If there zvere a valve without steam lap, driven by one 
eccentric, how would this latter have to be placed on the axle, 
supposing that no lead was used? 

A. If there was no rocker arm it should be placed with its 



ECCENTRIC MOTIONS. 



311 



belly or high part 90° ahead of the crank pin, in the direction 
in which it was desired that the axle should turn ; it would be 
as in Fig. 192. 

0. Hon* should the eccentrics be set, where there are two 
zvith shifting link and uncrossed rods, driving a lawless valve 
without rocker arm (no lead being required): 7 

A. As shown in Fig. 193, each one 90 ahead of the crank 





Fig. 192. Single Eccentric, 
Lapless Valve, no rocker. 



Fig. 193. Two Eccentrics, Lapless 
Valve, no rocker. 



pin in the direction in which the engine is to run. (The for- 
ward eccentric is marked F.) 

0. Suppose a single-eccentric engine having no rocker arm, 
driving a valve that had outside lap for the purpose of cutting 
off the steam before stroke end ; lion* should the eccentric be 
set, if no lead zvas desired? 

A. As shown in Fig. 194, in which the eccentric is more 
than 90 in advance of the crank pin, in the direction in which 
the axle is to turn ; the excess being enough to enable the 
steam edge of the valve to be in line with the outside edge 
of the end port, when the piston is at beginning of stroke. 

Q. Hozv should the eccentrics be set where there are two 
driving a lapped valve, until shifting link, uncrossed rods and 
no rocker, and when no lead is desired? 



312 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. As in Fig. 195, where the forward eccentric is ahead of 
the crank pin, in the direction in which the engine is to run 
ahead, 90 plus an amount enough to bring the valve line-and- 





Fig. 194. One Kccentric, 
Lapped Valve, no rocker. 



Fig. 195. Two Eccentrics, Lapped 
Valve, no rocker. 



line for steam admission, at stroke end ; the eccentric bellies 
pointing from the crank. 

Q. How can the amount ahead of the 90 position, neces- 
sary to make the steam edge of the valve lip line with the out- 
side edge of the end port, be determined? 

A. In two ways : first, on the engine itself, by turning the 
eccentric until the valve is in that position ; second, on the 
drawings ; the angle in excess of 90 being the angle which 
the crank makes with the central line of the engine, at the 
point of cut-off.* 

Q. Where there is a rocker arm and one eccentric, with a 
lapless valve, what about setting the latter {when no lead is 
desired) ? 

A. As the rocker arm reverses the direction of valve motion 



* This is fully described and illustrated under the head of "Valve 
Setting." 



ECCENTRIC MOTIONS. 



313 



with relation to the driving axle, the eccentric should be set, 
where there is no lap, just 90 back of the crank pin, counted 
from the direction in which % it is to run the engine, as shown 
in Fig. 196. 

Q. Where there is a rocker arm and a lapless valve with 

two eccentrics, a shifting link and uncrossed rods, and no lead 
is required, how should the eccentrics be placed? 




Fig. 196. One Eccentric, Lap- 
less Valve, with rocker. 




Fig. 197. Two Eccentrics, Lapless 
Valve, with rocker. 



A. Each should be 90 back of the crank pin (in the op- 
posite direction from that which it is required to run the 
engine). (See Fig. 197, in which the forward eccentric is 
marked F.) 

Q. Where there is a rocker arm and a lapped valve, with 
one eccentric, and no lead is desired, how should the eccentric 
be placed? 

A. Back of the crank pin (in the opposite direction from 
which the engine is to run) 90 , less enough to bring the valve 
line-and-line for admission at stroke end ; the eccentric belly 
being toward the crank. The more lap the more such excess-. 
(See Fig. 198.) 

Q. Where the valve has lap and there are two eccentrics 



314 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



and a rocker arm, with shifting link and uncrossed rods, and 
no lead is required, what should be the eccentric positions? 

A. Each should be back of the crank pin (in the opposite 
direction to that in which it is intended to run. the engine) 
90 , less enough extra turn to bring the valve line-and-line 
for admission at stroke end ; the eccentric bellies being toward 





Fig. 198. One Eccentric, Lapped Fig. 199. Two Eccentrics, Lap- 
Valve, with rocker. ped Valve, with rocker. 

the crank. (See Fig. 199, in which the forward eccentric is 
marked F.) 

Q. Where lead is desired, what is the rule? 

A. Turn the eccentric still further ahead of the crank pin, 
in the direction it is to run the engine, if there is no rocker. 
If there is a rocker, turn it still further in the opposite direc- 
tion to that in which it is to run the engine. 

Q. Is this rule good for either one or two eccentrics? 

A. Yes. 

Q. Suppose that you have two eccentrics of different throzvs, 
but the same angular advance, and that the valve laps are made 
so that both will have the same lead; how will the distribu- 
tion be? 

A. Admission and cut-off will occur at the same point of the 
stroke, but there will be less width of port opening with the- 
small throw, 



ECCENTRIC MOTIONS. 



315 



O. What would be the positions of the two eccentrics on the 
left-hand side if there •were neither lap nor lead? 

A. As seen in Fig. 200, where A is the axle, B the crank pin 
on the forward center, and CD the center line of eccentrics. 

Q. On the right side at the same time? 

A. As in Fig. 201, the lettering being the same. 




Fig. 204. Location of Eccentrics, 



316 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. If there zvere lead or lap, or both, on the left side, with 
the crank on the forward quarter? 

A. As in Fig. 202, the amount of angle depending on the 
amounts of lap and lead. 

Q. On the left side, with the crank on the bottom quarter? 

A. As in Fig. 203. 

Q. In general what may be said of the relative positions of 
the center lines of crank and eccentrics? 

A. The eccentrics form an angle inclosing the crank. 

Q. What are the proper positions for the eccentrics, in rela- 
tion to the crank pin on the same side? 

A. The journal motion eccentric should follow the pin, at 
right angles, less the lap and lead of the valve. The back 
motion should lead the pin, at right angles, less the lap and 
lead of the valve. 

Q. What are the positions of the eccentrics on the right 
side of a locomotive in relation to those on the left side? 

A. The right forward motion eccentrics lead those on the 
left side by one-fourth turn. The same is so of the back 
motion. 

THE SHEAVE AND STRAP. 

Q. In how many pieces is the eccentric sheave? 

A. Sometimes in one ; at others, for convenience of repairs, 
in two. 

Q. How are these fastened together? 

A. Sometimes by bolts or studs, at others by keys and 
cotters. 

Q. What is the advantage of the latter? 

A. There is less trouble in fastening the parts together in 
such a confined place. 

Q. Where eccentrics arc fastened together in halves by 
screws, as in English engines, what is done ivith the recesses 
at the screw heads? 



ECCENTRIC STRAP. 81 7 

A. They are filled up with babbitt metal to keep the screws 
from working out. 

Q. Hozu are the eccentrics fastened on the axle? 

A. Sometimes by set screws only ; sometimes by a key and 
keyway, and again, without cutting keyways, by two keys 
having teeth on their under sides so that they will grip the 
axle; these keys being held in place by set screws. 

Q. What is the objection to a keyway ? 

A. It weakens the axle. 

Q. Are the eccentrics always on the main driving axle? 

A. No ; in small engines they are often on the front axle. 

Q. IV hat difference does this usually make in the eccentric 
rods? 

A. It puts the backing eccentric rod on the upper end of the 
link, and the forward eccentric rod on the lower; and the 
lifting-shaft will have to be in front instead of back of the 
link. The eccentric-strap is made in two halves, a front, shown 
in Fig. 155, and to which the eccentric rod is bolted, and a 
back, bolted to the front half. 

Q. What is an eccentric strap? 

A. A ring fitting on an eccentric, cast in two parts and 
usually with the inner surface grooved or channeled to fit 
a tongue surrounding the circumference of the eccentric, al- 
though sometimes the groove is in the- circumference of the 
sheave and the projecting tongue on the inside of the strap. 
The strap transforms the rotary motion of the eccentric to a 
reciprocating one at the end of the eccentric rod. 

Q. Is the eccentric strap always divided in a line at right 
angles to the center line of the rod? 

A. Xo; some builders make the parting at an angle of 45 
or so with the rod. 

0. What is the advantage of having the parting at right 
angles to the center line of the rod? 



;ns 



LOCOMOTIVE CAtECHJSM. 



A. That there will not be required one pattern for the right 
side, another for the left. 

Q. What is the advantage of having the parting at more 
than a right angle to the center line of the strap? 

A. Lessening the strain on the bolts and nuts connecting the 
two parts. 

Q. Why has the eccentric strap two hubs cast thereon? 

A. To avoid the necessity of having a right and a left-hand 
pattern. 

Q. As betzveen a grooved sheave and a grooved strap, which 
is better? 

A. The grooved strap, as a grooved sheave would have to be 
wider, hence extra heavy. 

Q. Hozv can the breakage of eccentric straps be lessened? 

A. By making the lugs or ears larger and putting in an 
extra screw bolt as at A, Fig. 205. 




Fig. 205. Eccentric Straps. 

Q. Why is one of the three holes, by zvhich the strap is 
attached to the eccentric rod, made oblong? 



ECCENTRIC RODS. Sl9 

A. To allow for first adjustment of the effective length of 
the rod. 

Q. Where the eccentric rod does not pass into a socket in 
the front half of the strap, how is adjustment of its effective 
length made? 

A. By thin copper strips. 

0. Should eccentrics be large or small? 

A. As small as possible, to reduce weight and wear and 
give room, especially where the main driving axle comes close 
to the firebox. 

Q. When the crank pin is on the forward center, where is 
the body of the go-ahead eccentric? 

A. Above the axle. 

Q. When the crank pin is on the forward center, where is 
the body of the back-up eccentric? 

A. Below the axle. 

Q. Why is it that, other things being equal, the shorter the 
eccentric throw the earlier the cut-off? 

A. Because the less the throw of the eccentric the greater 
the angle by which it leads the crank pin (or follows it, accord- 
ing as there is not, or is, a rocker arm). 

Q. What relation has the size of the eccentric upon the 
length of valve travel? 

A. Really none ; a large eccentric may have a small throw 
and vice versa. The throw is determined by the distance be- 
tween centers. 

ECCENTRIC RODS. 

Q. Which type of engine has the proportionally longest 
eccentric blades? 

A. The four-wheel connected. 

Q. What are the disadvantages of long eccentric rods? 

A. (i) Trying on the straps; (2) liable to spring and get 
the valves out of square, especially should the latter get dry. 



'.V2() 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. In standard American engines, which eccentric blade is 
attached to the top of the link? 

A. The forward. 

Q. Which eccentric comes next to the box? 

A. There is no rule ; sometimes the forward, sometimes the 
back-up. 




Fig. 206. Eccentrics and Valve Gear. 

Q. What is the general rule as regards the lead of the 
cranks? 

A. The right leads the left 90 . 

Q. Why are short eccentric blades used? 

A. To avoid a long curved rod around the forward driving 
axle, or an intermediate rod around the axle, hung on links 
or guides at the rear. 

Q. Which of these two evils is the greater? 

A. The latter. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of a long curved rod? 



ECCENTRIC RODS. 



321 



A. Its weight, and its friction on the eccentric at high 
speed ; also that it is liable to spring. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of an intermediate rod? 

A. All the disadvantages of the other, with those corning 
from its extra joints. 

Q. How can the evil of long eccentric rods, curved over the 
axle (as on many ten-wheelers) be remedied? 

A. (i) By putting the link just back of the front axle, and 



If — Supporting Hanger.Link End 
v. of Motion Bar 




Fig. 207. Eccentrics and Rods. 

using a curved transmission bar from the link to the rocker, 
just ahead of the leading axle — which gives two curved rods 
instead of one; (2) by using very short eccentric rods between 
main and forward axles ; ( 3 ) as on the Southern Railway and 
the Plant System, by a straight direct transmission bar leading 
back to the rocker (Fig. 207) ; (4) as on some of the Brooks 




"Radius of Link 53>£" ftjffl Eg 



Fisr. 208. Eccentrics and Rods. 



p-e- 



322 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

consolidated for the Long Island and the Lake Shore roads. 
(Fig. 208.) 

0. Why were eccentric blades formerly made adjustable, 
and why are they no longer so made? 

A. It is no longer customary to make them adjustable by 
means of slotted holes at the eccentric end. They were form- 
erly made adjustable so they could readily be moved to equal- 
ize the cut-off in case the engine became lame through wear or 
other causes. The practice was discontinued, as it was hard 
to keep the blades from slipping on the large modern engines. 

THE TUMBLING SHAFT. 

Q. What is the most desirable tumbling shaft position? 

A. When it holds the hanger so as to guide its vibrations 
in arcs practically parallel to the central line of motion. Also, 
it must be far enough above or below the central line of motion 
to keep it from being struck by the eccentric rods when the 
gear is moved from one motion to another. 

Q: Why not curve the eccentric rods? 

A. That would produce the desired results, but introduce 
into the design an element of weakness. 

Q. What point must be noted in connection zvith the hanger? 

A. It must be of such length that the link end will not 
strike the tumbling shaft in either forward or backward gear. 

Q. What is the usual proportion between the tumbling shaft 
and hanger lengths? 

A. The tumbling-shaft arm is usually at least as long as the 
hanger. 

Q. Suppose that the boiler or other part prevents the tum- 
bling-shaft arm from going far enough up to prevent the link 
being placed in full back gear, what will have to be done? 

A. There are two remedies; one to put the tumbling shaft 
below the link motion, the other to lengthen the rocker so as 
to lower the entire motion. 



REVERSING MECHANISM. 323 

Q. What will be necessary in the second case? 

A. To change the relative rocker-arm positions in order to 
keep their motions proper. 

Q. Which of these two methods is the better? 

A. The second, as the greater the rocker-arm length the 
less the valve-stem vibration and the link-block slip. 

Q. Of what material are the rocker arms usuqUy made? 

A. Wrought iron. 

Q. Why are the holes in the rocker arms usually taper- 
ing? 

A. To enable the pin to be driven out more readily. 

THE REVERSING MECHANISM. 

Q. What is the reversing mechanism on British locomo- 
tives? 

A. The reversing mechanism commonly consists of a hand 
wheel on a shaft having a worm gear which moves an arm 
attached to the reach rod. 

Q. On American? 

A. A lever. 

Q. Where is the reverse lever usually placed, and why? 

A. On the right side of the cab, because most engineers are 
right-handed. 

Q. Hoiv is it held in place? 

A. By a latch, worked by a trigger lying alongside the 
handle of the lever ; the latch working in notches on the upper 
side of the quadrant. (See Fig. 209.) 

Q. What is the usual arrangement of the notches in the 
reverse-lever quadrant? 

A. They correspond to such positions of the gear as will 
cut off the steam at a given number of inches of piston stroke ; 
as 6, 9, 12, etc., or 6, 8, 10, etc. Besides these, there is one 
notch corresponding to mid-gear. 



324 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 




[tan 



to3 



I p 




Reverse-lever and Attachments. 



i. I,ever, 2. Fulcrum. 3, Handle. 4. I,atch. 
5. Iyatch-spring. 6. I^atch-rod. 7. Catch. 



Fig. 210. Reverse- 
lever and Attach- 
ments. 



REVERSING MECHANISM. 325 

Q. How long should the reverse lever be? 

A. At least long enough to give the engineer a leverage of 
about four to one over the link; that is that one foot of lever 
motion should move the link not more than three inches. Six 
to one would be a better proportion. 

0. When the reverse lever is in the center notch, will the 
valves cover all the ports on each engine? 

A. AYhen the link is in its middle position and the crank on 
the center, the valve on that side is open by the ampunt of the 
mid-gear lead, which may be from Y^ to J / 2 inch ; that on the 
opposite side will be practically over the center of its seat, and 
therefore lapping both steam ports. For the central reverse 
lever position, the valve will be open w T hen the crank is on the 
centers, and closed when on the quarters. 

0. If a reversing arm got lengthened, zi'onld it affect the 
valve travel ; if so, in what way? 

A. An increase in length of the lower reverse arm which 
supports the link would give increased valve travel if there 
was space enough between the link block and ends of link 
slot to allow the center of lower rocker pin, or that of the link 
block, to pass outside of the line of centers of the eccentric rod 
pins. This condition, however, seldom or never is found in 
locomotive practice ; a link is usually designed so as to leave 
barely room for clearance for the maximum block slip — 
Y% inch at these points is liberal clearance. Hence the travel 
would not be greatly disturbed with a lengthening of the 
arm. 

Q. What are the advantages or disadvantages of the three 
types of reverse levers shown in Figs. 211, 212, 213? 

A. Fig. 211 rattles, has no spring take-off; Fig. 212 has, but: 
is ugly. In Fig. 213 the spring is always under tension and 
its resistance decreases as the latch is raised ; it requires, how- 
ever, a stiffer spring than the others, on account of the angle 
of the latch. 



326 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. Is there any other device for graduating the cut-off and 
reversing the engine, than the reverse lever f 

A. Yes ; in Europe a screw and hand wheel is often used. 

Figs. 214 and 215 show a screw and hand wheel for link 
motion from a German engine. In Figs. 216 and 217 is a 




Figs. 211, 212 and 213. Reverse Lever Handles. 



rotary latch. In Figs. 214 and 215 the screw is right-handed 
through its entire length and plays in but one nut. 

Q. How can greater speed of adjustment be obtained by 
this method and a screzv still be used? 

A. As in Figs. 218 and 219, when the screw is right-handed 



REVERSING MECHANISM. 



327 



in a nut on thr stand and left-handed in the block. The toothed 
disk s is keyed to the screw spindle and turned by the hand 
crank K. The tooth is kept at the same point on the spindle 
length as the disk s by the nut b and reach piece v. 




Figs. 214 and 215 
Reverse Lever Gear, 




Figs. 216 and 217. 
Reverse Lever Gear. 



Figs. 218 and 219. 
Reverse Lever Gear. 



328 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. Is this better than giving the screw more pitch? 

A. Yes ; that would give more friction. 

Q. Describe the German reversing gear 

A. The bearing L has fore-and-aft motion (with regard to 
the stand s) by means of the link pieces g and pivots i and i\ 
The screw spindle S is rotated by the hand wheel h, and this 




Figs. 220 and 221. 
Reverie Lever Gear. 



Figs. 222 and 223. 
Reverse Lever Gear. 



gives fore-and-aft motion to the half-nut m, and with this to 
the lever R, about the pin /, and to reach the rod Z. The half- 
nut m may be raised out of gear by the latch hi attached to the 
lever handle h. , This rig permits either gradual movement of 
the link (or block, as the case may be) by the screw, or 
sudden movement by the hand lever. (Figs. 220 and 221.) 

Q. Describe the German screzv reverse motion in Figs. 
222, 223. 

A. There is a double conical screw 5". In its threads there 
engages a tooth K } held there by the spring /. Turning the 
hand wheel h rotates the screw and moves the reverse lever 
R fore and aft; the reach rod Z, receiving the desired motion. 



REVERSING MECHANISM. 



329 



In sudden stops, however, the handle h and latch h 1 are brought 
into play. The double conical form of the screw permits the 
tooth K to move in a circular arc as with the ordinary quad- 
rant on American engines. In fact, the screw T here is prac- 
tically the quadrant arc. In some cases, instead of the disk 
K there is a two-part nut, as on a lathe feed screw, held 




Fig. 224. Inside Valve Gear. 



together by a spring and grip- 
ping the screw. This nut is 
opened by a lever operated by 
the driver's foot. Fig. 224 shows 
a German inside gear with an 
inclined slide valve. Figs. 225 
and 226 show the quadrant and 
reverse lever. 

Q. Are there many other va- 
rieties of reversing gear? 

A. Yes; for instance, those 
shown in Figs. 22J, 228, 229. 




Figs. 225 and 226. 
Quadrant and Reverse L,ever. 



330 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 




Fig. 227. Reversing Gear, 




Fig. 228. Reversing Gear. 




Fig. 229. Reversing Gear. 



ADMISSION. 331 

ADMISSION. 

Q. What is admission? 

A. Admission is the term given (i) to the act of entrance 
of live steam from the boiler, or of high-pressure exhaust 
directly from the H. P. cylinder or indirectly from the receiver 
into the L. P. cylinder; (2) to the time during which such 
entrance takes place.* 

Q. Is it not simply the time between the beginning of the 
piston stroke and the cut-off? 

A. No; because where there is lead or pre-admission, this 
takes place before stroke end, and where there is so-called 
"negative lead" admission does not take place until after the 
piston has started on the new stroke. 

Q. Trace the steam from the boilers through the cylinders 
to the atmosphere, and explain how it transmits power. 

A. The action of the direct radiation, conduction, and con- 
vection of the heat in the fire-box changes the water fed into 
the boiler into water at 212 deg., and further into steam at that 
pressure, and at the highest pressure which the boiler can carry 
without blowing off at the safety valve, or to that pressure 
which may be attained if the boiler is using steam but has not 
yet reached the maximum. This steam passes through the 
dry pipe to the throttle valve and the steam chest; is there 
admitted to the cylinder, driving the piston before it at some- 
thing less than boiler pressure, until the steam is cut off by the 
valve, when its pressure falls and its volume increases corre- 
spondingly until the exhaust passage is opened, when the 
momentum of the piston itself, aided by that of other recipro- 
cating and rotating parts, and of the train itself as a whole, 
keeps the piston in motion, even against compressed steam 
caused by premature exhaust closure. 

* Throughout this book the abbreviations " H. P." and " L. P." are 
used for " high pressure " and l< low pressure " respectively. 



332 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



LEAD.* 

Q. With a lapped valve, suppose the piston is at beginning 
of the stroke, where is the valve ? 

A. Its steam edge is either just in line with the outer edge 
of the end port at the end at which the piston is, or slightly 
in advance thereof, in the direction in which both the piston 
and the valve are to move. 

Q. Where it is slightly in advance of the "line-and-line" 
position — that is, where the port is slightly opened before the 
piston is at stroke beginning — what is said of the valve? 

A. That it has positive lead (usually called simply "lead"), 
"advance," or "pre-admission." 

Q. What is the measure of the linear lead {or simply the 
lead) of a valve? 

A. The amount that the port is open at the moment the 
crank passes the center. 

Q. What is lead angle, or angular advance? 

A. The angular distance of the crank from its zero point 
when the steam port commences to open, or of the eccentric 
from a point 90 ahead of the crank. 




Fig. 230. Slide Valve showing Lead. 

Q. What may be said of expressing amount of lap and lead 
in inches? 

A. It is nonsensical and misleading. A given lap or lead in 
inches of valve travel or of piston stroke might be right for 

* See also under " Angular Advance of Eccentrics." 



LEAD. 333 

one length or travel of valve, length of piston stroke, or steam 
pressure, and entirely wrong for another. 

Q. How should these elements be expressed? 
A. Either in degrees of crank motion or in percentage of 
piston travel. 

Q. Does lead have any effect upon the continuity of the crank 
motion? 

A. No; because it is so small an angle that the lever arm 
is very short. 

Q. What are the limits of lead angle for stationary engines? 
A. Between zero and 8°. 

Q. What are the objects (real or supposed) of lead? 

A. To conceal and neutralize difficulty due to bad work- 
manship and to wear of boxes and pins, as w r ell as to enable the 
cylinder space back of the piston to be filled with steam at full 
chest pressure at an early point in the stroke ; also to ease the 
exhaust. 

Q. What effect has lead upon the various elements of distri- 
bution: admission, cut-off, release, and cushion? 

A. It causes all to take place earlier, other things being 
equal, than if there were no lead. 

Q. How is a valve given lead: by its construction, or by its 
setting? 

A. By the setting of the eccentric with relation to the crank. 

Q. Hozv is the valve given lead by the eccentric setting? 

A. The eccentric is advanced still further beyond the point 
90° from the crank, which it would have if there were no lead. 
Thus, if there is no rocker arm, the eccentric is run still fur- 
ther ahead of the crank in the direction in which it is to run 
the axle. If there is a rocker arm it is run still further back 
of the crank, or in the opposite direction to that in which the 
engine is to run the axle. 



334 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. Where no rocker is vised, hozv may the linear lead be 
measured ? 

A. It will be exactly the amount of offset of the eccentric 
from a vertical line. 

Q. If the valve has the same amount of lap at each end, will 
cut-off take place at the same point in both cylinder ends? 

A. No ; as the connecting rod introduces irregularities be- 
tween the piston movement and that of the valve. 

Q. What is the nature of these irregularities? 

A. When the crosshead is at C, the out end of the stroke 
(see Fig. 231) the crank pin will be at c, on the outboard dead 
center. When the crosshead is at B, in the middle of its stroke, 
the crank pin will not be at the quarter point of its path, but at 




Fig. 231. Effect of Angularity of Connecting-rod. 

b. When the crosshead is at A or inboard stroke end, the 
crank pin will be at a, or the half point of its path ; and on the 
return stroke, when the crosshead is again at mid-stroke, at B, 
the crank pin will have made less than the quarter circle from 

c, and will be at b'. 

Q. What relation has the connecting rod {main rod) to the 
amount of this irregularity? 

A. The shorter the connecting rod, the greater the irregu- 
larity. 



LEAD. 335 

Q. What would be the disadvantage of giving great main- 
rod length in order to lessen the irregularity? 

A. It would increase the necessary length of the engine, and 
also the unbalanced weight. 

Q. How may this irregularity of cut-off, caused by the angu- 
larity of the connecting rod, be done azcay with? 

A. By giving the valve more lap upon that end at which 
the cut-off would be earliest if the laps were the same at both 
valve ends. 

Q. How about the lead in the stationary-link motion? 
A. It is constant for all gears ; although the lead angle 
increases as much as with the shifting link. 

Q. How about the lead with this motion, if the rods are 
crossed? 

A. It has constant lead both with crossed and with uncrossed 
ends. 

Q. Are engines with constant lead common in America? 
A. No. 

Q. Considering that engines with constant lead are the most 
common in Great Britain, where they average the fastest trains 
in the world, n'hy is not constant lead good for high speed? 

A. The mere fact of their having constant lead and making 
high speed does not prove that the constant lead causes the 
high speed. Those engines run on better tracks than those in 
America, and have larger drivers, admitting of slow piston 
speed. 

Q. Does the shifting link change the angular advance of 
the eccentric? 
A. No. 

Q. Does the stationary link change the angular distance of 
the eccentric? 
A. Yes. 



336 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. Can shifting-link motions be arranged with constant lead 
for various gears? 

A. Yes ; but only for various gears of one direction of the 
motion ; thus, if the lead be constant for all forward gears from 
mid to full, it will vary on the backward gears. 

0. How may this be done with the ordinary open-rod shift- 
ing-link motion? 

A. By giving the forward eccentric more angular advance 
than the backing eccentric ; of course experimenting with the 
angular advance given, until the lead is constant at every posi- 
tion. In this case the lead-opening will be constant for all for- 
ward gear positions, and will diminish from mid-gear to full 
back gear. 

Q. What would be the effect of giving the backing eccentric 
of this open-rod shifting-link motion more angular advance 
than the forward? 

A. To give constant lead for all backward positions, and 
varying lead for all forward-gear positions — this, of course, 
implying that the proper excess of angular advance was given. 

Q. How may the same effect as slight steam lead be given a 
valve, without in any way altering the gear? 

A. By nicking its steam edge in one or more places so as to 
admit steam through the openings just made, before the valve 
edge has reached the port edge. 

Q. What other elements does this affect? 

A. It makes cut-off practically a trifle later, as it in one 
sense reduces the lap. 

Q. Does it oiffect exhaust and compression? 

A. No ; these are not affected by the outside valve edge. 

Q. Is it necessary to have lead to be able to start trains? 

A. No. 

Q. Is lead necessary in order to zvork smoothly at or near 
full gear? 



LEAD. 337 

A. No. 

Q. With a slow-running locomotive, where the steam is 
admitted, say, half the stroke, is much lead necessary t 

A. Xo ; because with ordinary engines the exhaust will 
occur early enough to prevent back pressure during the return 
stroke ; and compression will begin in sufficient time to provide 
the cushion required to bring the cranks smoothly over the 
centers, to reheat the cylinders, and to raise the pressure in the 
clearance spaces to the initial steam pressure. 

Q. If you have a high-speed locomotive that has a valve 
gear which keeps the lead constant at all points of cut-off, how 
must the valve be set? 

A. With what would be regarded as excessive lead at full 
gear in a shifting-link engine. 

Q. Where would such excessive lead be detrimental? 

A. When the engine was pulling on grades, or at places 
where the steam had to be worked at half stroke. 

Q. What is the principal objection to increase of lead? 

A. Increase of cushion or compression as the engine is 
hooked up, thus lessening the power, especially wdiere the com- 
pression is greater than the initial pressure. 

Q. What effect on lead has lost motion in the gear? . 

A. To decrease it. 

Q. What will shozv this state of affairs if it exists? 

A. The indicator. 

Q. On v'hat class of engines is increased lead toward the 
center notch most injurious? 

A. On slow, hard-pulling freight engines. 

Q. Hozv is it remedied? 

A. By giving the back-up eccentric more angular advance, 
hence favoring the forward motion. 

Q. To increase the lead of a standard engine with indirect 
motion, what is to be done? 



338 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. Shift the eccentric belly toward the crank pin. 

Q. With direct motion? ■ 

A. The reverse. 

0. Where the lead is the same for both motions, are the 
eccentrics equally distant from the crank pin? 

A. Xo; even although the cut-offs may be equal at extreme 
notches. 

0. Give some examples, from a full-sized model, of effects 
of changing the lead. 

A. (In the case here cited the maximum valve travel was 
5 3/16 inch; outside lap, % inch.) 



Full gear lead — 1-16 in. F. 

M. &B. M. - 

Cut-off . 6 in. 

Lead for cut-off % in. 

Valve travel 2 11-32 in. 

Maximum port opening . . 19-64 in.. 

Occurs in stroke at 1 1-32 in. 

Exhaust opens at 16 1-16 in. 

Exhaust opening, maxi'm 1 5-32 in. 

Exhaust closes at 16 1- 16 in. 

Lead opens at 23 3-16 in. 



o F. M. — yi in. F. M. 

■%\n. B.M. +i-i6in. B.M. 

6 in. 6 in. 

% in. 

2 11-32 in. 

19-64 in. 

9-32 in. 

iStf in- 

1 5-32 in. 

15 13-16 in. 

23 1-32 in. 



A 

2 II-32 

19-64 

5-16 

I 5-32 

15 15-16 in 
23 in. 



in. 
in. 
in. 
n. 
in. 
in. 



Q. What lead should an Allen or Trick (double-ported) 
valve have } as compared with a plain D slide? 

A. The same. 

0. What is negative lead? 

A. Retardation of all valve movements and functions with 
relation to the piston movements ; principally seen and referred 
to in connection with admission, which commences after the 
crank has carried the piston past the center, instead of before, 
as with pre-admission or positive lead. 

Q. What is an argument against the statement that positive 
lead is needed to cushion the reciprocating parts? 



WIRE DRAWING. 339 

A. The fact that the engine rides most smoothly when the 
throttle is closed and the only cushion is that due to a slight 
air pressure and vacuum. 

Q. Are cases knozvn when reducing the lead lessened the 
jar? 

A. Many such ; and the' steady tendency on American rail- 
ways is to reduce the lead, thereby lessening the number of 
broken piston rods and deck bolts, and of hot crank pins. 

Q. Where may negative lead give better results than posi- 
tive? 

A. With full travel ; because of the slow speed, which gives 
plenty of time, anyhow, to fill the cylinder. 

Q. What is the proper amount of lead for the running 
cut-off? 

A. The greatest that is compatible with a full smooth cush- 
ion line not looped at the top. 

Q. Hozv may this be determined? 

A. Only by the use of an indicator. 

WIRE DRAWING. 

Q. What are the essential differences between the steam 
action in- locomotive practice and that in other non-condensing 
engines? 

A. With the usually-employed locomotive valve gear there 
is excessive wire drawing and cushion. 

Q. What is wire drawing? 

A. A reduction of pressure in the incoming steam, caused 
by too narrow ports or by insufficient port opening. 

Q. Is wire drawing more injurious in compound or in non- 
compound engines? 

A. In compounds, where high initial pressure is of main 
importance. 

Q. What is gained by wire drawing? 



340 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. Reheating or superheating of the steam; but this is more 
than balanced by "loss of potential" of steam pressure. 



CUT-OFF AND EXPANSION. 

Q. What is the advantage of cut-off? 

A. To permit the steam to expand from chest pressure, or 
nearly so, down to atmospheric pressure where the exhaust 
is free. In losing pressure and temperature, the steam is 
doing in the cylinder work which it would not be able to do 
if allowed to escape into the open air at high pressure and 
temperature. 

Q. Hozv is cut-off effected in a locomotive engine? 

A. By constructing the valve longer than the distance be- 
tween outside edges of steam ports, so that it stops the admis- 
sion of chest-pressure steam before the piston has made a 
complete single stroke. 

Q. Is perfectly "square" admission and cut-off in both gears 
possible with link motion? 

A. No. 

Full Steam Line , fti T 

| Stroke 




Fig. 232. Theoretical Indicator Diagram. 

Q. What is usually sacrificed? 

A. Squareness in the back motion, to get it in the front. 



CUT-OFF AND EXPANSION. 



341 



Q. Has the diameter of the eccentric disk any effect on the 
amount of valve motion? 

A. No ; the eccentricity alone effects this. 

Q. Why are early cut-offs with shifting-link gears to be 
avoided? 

A. Because they entail excessive cushion and wire drawing ; 
the latter owing to the narrow port opening. 



\ Stroke 




=P 






V; 








Fig. 233. Theoretical Indicator Diagram. 



Q. With reverse lever at extreme notches, zvhat may be said 
of the squareness of cut-off? 

A. It is usually made later in forward than in backward 
motion. 

Q. Where the exhaust is "square" is the cut-off so? 

A. Not always. 

0. Which should be sacrificed? 

A. Squareness of exhaust. 

Q. In any engine, what effect has the point of cut-off on the 
uniformity of traction? 

A. At slow speeds the later the cut-off the more uniform the 



342 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

traction. At high speeds not so much so, by reason of the 
momentum of the reciprocating parts. 

Q. At what speeds is uniformity of traction most important ? 

A. At slow ones ; still more especially in starting. 

Q. Where one cylinder has a larger bore than the other, 
how may the difference in pressure be equalized, at least par- 
tially? 

A. By giving the smaller one the later cut-off, so as to make 
the mean effective pressure the same at the most usual cut-off. 

Q. Can inequality of cylinder diameter be discovered by the 
indicator? 

A. No. 

RELEASE AND EXHAUST. 

Q. Why should especial attention be paid to a free release 
or exhaust? 

A. Because it is much less easy to get the steam out of the 
cylinder with the low pressure at end of expansion than to get 
it in at chest pressure ; further, the exhaust passages are longer 
and more tortuous than those from the chest to the cylinder. 

Q. Hozv may free exhaust be facilitated? 

A. (i) By exhaust lead, properly so called; (2) by inside 
clearance, or negative exhaust lap ; the second being provided 
for in the construction, the first by setting. 

Q. Would it be possible, with a single slide valve and the 
usual eccentric gear, to have an exhaust which woidd take 
place anywhere near the atmospheric pressure? 

A. No ; because the same cylinder-port opening must serve 
for both admission and for exhaust, and if there is insufficient 
admission opening there must be also too little exhaust open- 
ing, the piston speeds being the same. Increasing the exhaust 
lead would also increase the steam lead and produce difficulties 
in steam economy and in smooth running. Inside clearance 
seems to be the best practical help in most cases. 



COMPRESSION. 343 

Q. Just what difference might be considered in the meaning 
of the two words "release" and "exhaust"? 

A. Some consider release to be the action of opening the 
port for exhaust ; others consider it as the time of exhaust ; 
others as the exhaust itself. 

Q. Where is inside clearance considered to be of value? 
A. For fast-running engines, or for those with small wheels 
at moderate speed. 

COMPRESSION OR CUSHION. 

Q. What is compression or cushion? 

A. The confining of the exhaust in one end of the cylinder 
by closing the exhaust port, as by exhaust lap (inside lap) 
before stroke end, thereby lessening the space for the steam 
to occupy. The steam confined in what is temporarily the 
exhaust end of the cylinder is compressed by the advancing 
piston, to a pressure depending on ( I ) the exhaust pressure at 
the time of port closure, and (2) the relative volume of the 
cylinder-end space thus shut off and the cylinder clearance. 

0. What is the limit of compression? 

A. Where the valve is an unbalanced flat slide which can 
lift from its seat, chest pressure. With balanced slides unpro- 
vided with a relief valve, and with piston valves, the limit is apt 
to be the strength of the cylinder heads. 

Q. Why is it called "cushion"? 

A. Because it is supposed to act as a buffer or spring to take 
up the shock of piston reversing, and thus save bearings. 

0. What other cause of cushion is there besides exhaust lap? 
A. Lead. 

0. Is compression advantageous? 

A. To a certain extent, because the compressed steam acts 
as an elastic cushion to absorb the shock of the reversal of 
motion of the reciprocating parts. It also does away with part 



344 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



or all of the loss which would otherwise occur by reason of the 
waste clearance space between the piston and the valve. 

Q. What is the object of this clearance space? 
A. To guard against the possibility of the piston — by rea- 
son of wear of parts or change of adjustment — overrunning its 



Lbs. 




Fig. 234. Theoretical Indicator Diagram. 



original course and striking the cylinder head; also to afford 
space for water which might get into the cylinder, and which — 
not being compressible as steam is — might knock out a cylinder 
head. 

Q. Can compression in the cylinders give a pressure higher 
than that in the chest, or even in the boiler? 
A. Yes ; if the valve cannot lift. 

Q. When is this likely to occur? 

A. In cutting off very short where there is much mid-gear 
lead or inside lap, or both. 



COMPRESSION. 345 

Q. How much compression should an engine have in order to 
make her pass her centers? 

A. That depends on the amount of clearance. There should 
be enough to fill the clearance space at stroke end at boiler 
pressure. With 15 to 18 per cent clearance you must have 
high compression. 

Q. As regards clearance space and compression, what is the 
essential difference between locomotive and stationary engine 
practice? 

A. In the stationary engine the exhaust passages are of 
fixed dimensions, while in the locomotive they are likely to be 
clogged up by gum from the fuel, or have to be changed in size 
to accommodate some new fuel ; and often if the exhaust nozzle 
could be kept of uniform size, the back pressure could not be 
so regulated as to give constant volume of steam in the cyl- 
inder with the valve closed for compression. 

0. How is over-compression best obviated? 

A. By making the ports long, giving plenty of vaive travel 
and outside lap, and some negative inside lap (inside clear- 
ance). 

Q. What is gained by the increased travel and outside lap? 
A. Good port opening at short cut-offs ; later compression. 

Q. What by the inside clearance? 

A. Delayed exhaust closure, hence reduced compression. 

Q. In compounds, which cylinder needs the most inside 
clearance? 
A. The H.P. 

Q. Is the beneficial effect of inside clearance greater with 
slow or with high speeds? 
A. With slow. 

Q. Can inside clearance be a source of waste? 
A. Yes, on very slow-speed engines. 



346 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



0. Does inside clearance affect the compression after admis- 
sion? 
A. Xo. 

Q. Has it the same value in freight as in passenger service, 
on the same engine? 

A. Xo ; less. It is, as a rule, of advantage only on high- 
speed engines. 

Q. What is the principal cause of back pressure? 

A. The exhaust nozzle, not the valve. 

Q. What will back pressure average in non-compounds ? 

A. About four pounds per square inch. 

Q. Can a table be made grouping the effects , upon each of 
the elements: admission, cut-off , release, and compression of 
increase in angular advance, valve travel, inside lap and out- 
side lap? 

A. Yes ; such a table is here given : 





Admission. 


Cut-off. 


Exhaust 
Opening. 


Compression 


Increase 
angular 
advance. 


Earlier, but 
period not 
changed, 


Earlier. 

Period 

unchanged. 


Earlier and 

period not 

altered. 


Earlier and 

period the 

same. 


Increase 
travel. 


Sooner and 

continues 

longer. 


Begins later 
and ends 
quicker. 


Begins later. 
Ends later. 


Begins later 

and ceases 

quicker. 


Increase 
inside lap. 


No change. 


Not changed 

and ends 

later. 


Takes place 

later. 

Ends quicker. 


Begins 

sooner. 

Ends later. 


Increase 
outside lap. 


Later and 
ends quicker. 


Earlier and 

continues 

longer. 


Not changed. 


Begins at 
same point. 



Q. What is the most economical point of cut-off? 

A. The earliest at which the condensation and re-evapora- 
tion in the cylinder and other causes, such as wire drawing, do 
not neutralize the gain by expansion. 



VALVE SETTING. 347 

Q. How can this point be found? 

A. Only by actual experiment with each engine and each set 
of conditions of train, grade, piston speed, boiler pressure, 
external temperature, wind, etc. 



VALVE SETTING. 

Q. How do you get the engine on the exact center? 

A. In the case of an old engine with worn guides, by mov- 
ing the wheels until the crosshead reaches the end of the travel 
marks on the guides. Where there are no such marks — as with 
a new engine or one with guides newly planed and scraped — 
by pinching the wheels over until the crosshead stops and 
reverses its movements ; scribing this place and pinching again 
past the center, in the other direction, to be sure that the cross- 
head does not go further than the scriber mark. When the 
crosshead is at its travel end, the engine is on the center. 

Q. Which center is most convenient to set eccentric from? 

A. The forward. 

Q. Where do the eccentrics come in relation to the crank pin 
on that side of the engine? 

A. The forward-motion one is not quite 90 or a quarter 
circle back of the crank pin ; the backing eccentric is not quite 
90 ahead of the pin. The angular distance from the true 90 ° 
point is enough to allow for valve lap and for valve lead, and 
varies with the amount of lap on the valve and with the lead 
desired. 

Q. Where do they come in relation to the eccentrics for the 

same motion on the other side of the engine? 

A. Just 90 from them. 

Q. From what point are the eccentrics permanently set? 

A. From the center line of motion ; not from the crank pin. 

Q. In temporary setting? 

A. From the crank pin. 



348 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. What are the so-called "danger marks?" 

A. Marks on the guides to show extreme crosshead position 
at each end of stroke. 

Q. Describe in detail the process of ascertaining leads zvith 
steam on? 

A. All lost motion having been taken up while the engine is 
hot, the reverse lever is put in full forward position. The 
chest covers are removed and the valve placed first with one 
steam edge, then with the other, in exact line with the outer 
end-port edges. Commence on the left side. With a short 
'] shaped tram lay out on the valve stem the points A 
and B y Fig. 235, corresponding to front and back admission, 




Tramming a Iyocomotive. 



and also one for the central: valve position, measuring from 
a prick-punch mark C on the cylinder top. (The distance of 
the two extreme points on the valve stem will be the sum of 
the two outside laps.) Replace the chest covers. Running the 
engine (under steam) until the crosshead is near the back 
center, take a long tram H and from a prick point K on the 
frame, scribe an arc E on the main driver ; at the same time, 
with a short tram on a prick point on the guides, making a 
prick point on the crosshead. Move the engine ahead until the 
crosshead ha^ passed the dead point and the crosshead and 
guide marks again "tram." Scribe on the driver a second arc 
F \ tramming with the prick mark on the frame. With dividers 
step off the exact central point G between E and F. Putting 



VALVE SETTING. 



349 



the reverse lever in the back notch, move the engine back until 
the point G trams with K; the engine will then be on the back 
dead center. The short tram is then used to indicate on the 
valve stem the valve position for this center. The distance 
between this point and that indicating the opening position will 
be the lineal lead (either positive or negative) at that end. 
Have a "lead card'' so ruled (Fig. .236) : 



Gear. 


Center. 


Right. 


Left. 


F. 


F. 






B. 




, 


B. 


F. 






B. 







Fig. 236. Lead Card. 

In the space corresponding to back-up motion, left side, back 
center, enter the amount of lineal lead first found. With lever 
in full forward position, move the engine back a trifle (to take 
up lost motion), then ahead until G trams with K. Mark 
on the valve stem where the valve stands on the back center in 
forward motion ; the distance between this and the "line and 
line" position is the lineal lead, positive or negative as the 
case may be. In this way, ascertain the leads (positive or 
negative) for both centers, both sides, in both full motions — 
eight lineal leads in all. Some may be positive, some negative. 

Q. How may the leads thus ascertained be equalized, where 
one end has negative lineal lead and the other positive, in the 
same motion? 

A. Subtract the negative lineal lead from the positive and 
divide the difference equally between the two ends. 

Q. What is the procedure where both sides have either posi- 
tive or negative lead, but in different amount? 



350 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. Take half the sum of the two similar leads as the aver- 
age for each end. 

0. What is to be done if in forzvard motion the valve has 
y% inch lead on front end, 1/16 inch on back, and it it desired 
to equalize the two? 

A. The valve must be removed back 1/16 inch, by lengthen- 
ing the top eccentric blade that amount (a trifle less if the 
engine is new). 

Q. Why this difference for a nezv engine ? 
A. Because at first there is considerable wear, and the wheels 
usually wear ahead in the brass. 

Q. When the crank pin is on the forzvard center, from which 
port mark is the valve tram mark to be reckoned? 
A. From the front. 

Q. With standard (indirect) rocker arm, which eccentric fol- 
lozvs the crank pin in forward running? 
A. The forward or go-ahead. 

Q. What is the general tendency of taking up lost motion 
on the position of the main axle? 

A. As the wedge is usually behind the brasses, the effect is 
gradually to bring the main axle forward, hence increasing 
the front port opening. 

Q. After an engine has been set up on her springs, with 
her slide valve properly set, if she went down either front or 
back, zvhat effect would it have on the valves? 

A. That depends on how much the engine settles. With 
ordinary deflection it will be difficult to note any distortion in 
the valve motion. 

Q. Can valves be set correctly without coupling up connect- 
ing rods? 
A. No. 

Q. Hozu can valves be tested for "squareness"? 



VALVE SETTING. 351 

A. By applying the brake and working with a good throttle 
in each notch of the quadrant. 

Q. In setting valves, zchat will facilitate turning over/ 

A. Running the main drivers up on rollers, so that the 

engine need not be pinched ahead on the track to shift the valve 

position. 

Q. When an engine has got lame after running sonic time, 
are the valve travels alike on both sides? 

A. In length, yes ; in position, no. One or both has got 
shifted so that the travel on one side of the exhaust-port cen- 
ter is greater than that on the other. 

Q. When both valves have their travel center shifted the 
same amount and in the same direction from the exhaust-port 
center^ zvhat is the character of the exhaust coughs? 

A. Both forward coughs are alike, and both rear ones, but 
the exhausts on the back stroke are not like those on the front. 

Q. When only one valve has shifted, how are the exhaust 
coughs? 

A. On the normal or unchanged side, front and back alike ; 
on the other, different both from those on the normal side and 
from each other. 

Q. Should the engine carry full steam much later on one 
side than on the other, z^hat should be looked to? 

A. The tumbling shaft, to see if one arm is not sprung either 
up or down. » 

0. Hoiv can you avoid changing the length of eccentric 
rods? 

A. By changing that of the valve stem by means of the right 
and left nuts. But if the stem length is already just right, it 
should not be altered. 

0. In changing lead by altering reach-rod length or link- 
hanger length, zi'hat is the effect on the squareness? 



352 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. What is put on the go-aheads is lost on the back-ups, and 
vice versa. 

Q. What is one cause of a valve getting too much travel 
after being rightly set? 

A. Opening out of an eccentric strap by reason of one 
of the bolts losing a nut. 

0. Is it possible to make the valves square as regards both 
cut-off and admission? 

A. It is possible, but not very easy with most valve motions. 

Q. Suppose that it entails too much difficulty to square the 
valves both for lead and for cut-off, which zvay should they 
be squared? 

A. For cut-off, because it is the amount of steam that is used 
in the cylinder up to the point of cut-off that causes the draft 
and makes the sound of the exhaust. 

Q. How can the cut-off be equalized in the ordinary slide 
valve and eccentric? 

A. By varying the angular advance of the eccentric, or the 
length of the eccentric rod. 

Q. Where the cause of unequal cut-off front and back is 
found to be in the link saddle, what should be done? 

A. An adjustable link saddle should be used; or temporary 
saddle bolts used and the saddle moved forwards and back- 
wards until the cut-off is square. 

Q. Suppose that when the engine is moved ahead slowly 
with the cylinder cocks open, steam is let into the front end 
of the cylinder before the piston has reached the center, or 
that the back cylinder cock shozvs steam too late } of what is 
that the sign? 

A. That the eccentric rod is too long. 

Q. Suppose that with the engine moving ahead slowly with 
the cylinder cocks open y steam is found to be too late on the 
front end and too soon on the back; of what is that a sign? 



VALVE SETTING. 35S 

A. That the eccentric rod is too short. 

Q. Will changing the length of one eccentric blade affect 
the other motion ? 

A. Yes. 

0. At what cut-offs will this be most noticeable? 

A. At short ones. 

Q. If there is any difference in the lateness of cut-off in the 
tzi'O ends of the cylinder, in which should it be the later? 

A. In the crank end, on account of ( i ) the smaller effective 
piston area; (2) the angularity of the connecting rod. 

0. What effect has the boiler expansion on the valve gear? 

A. To pull back the quadrant and raise the links, hence 
increasing the lead on the forward and decreasing it on the 
back-up eccentrics. 

Q. In setting an engine cold how is allozi'ance made for 
boiler expansion? 

A. The back-up eccentrics are given more lead than the 
go-ahead. 

Q. What does it mean when one says that the valves of an 
engine are set "line and line" forward and "7/32 of an inch 
blind" on the back motion? 

A. Valves are "line and line" when in full forward gear they 
have no lead ; that is, at the beginning of the stroke the valve 
edge coincides with the steam-port edge. "Back motion 7/32 
inch blind" means that in full throw in back gear, the valve 
must travel 7/32 of an inch after the piston stroke has begun, 
before the steam port begins to open. 

Q. What is the object of such setting? 

A. To favor the forward motion at the expense of the back- 
ward. 

Q. What is the "clock" rule for setting valves? 

A. For valves with outside admission with a rocker, or for 
valves with inside admission without a rocker, put the crank 



354 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

pin at a point corresponding to 4i 3 o'clock" and the eccentrics 
at "i and 5 o'clock" with the rods uncrossed. 

For inside admission valves with a reversing rocker, the 
eccentrics are to be set with the crank pin at a point corre- 
sponding to "3 o'clock," the eccentrics at 7 and 11 with rods 
crossed. 

Q, How may the rocker arm be brought into an exactly 
vertical position in valve setting? 

A. By scribing on the end of the shaft, with the same center 
as the shaft itself, a circle of exactly the same diameter as the 
hole of the pin in the top of the arm ; hanging a thin cord by 
two weights over the pin, and bringing the arm into such a 
position that this cord, acting as a double plumb line, will 
just touch both sides of the circle on the shaft end. 

Q. Is it best to set the forward motion eccentric or the back- 
ward? 

A. Usually the forward is the most easy to get at, hence 
should be the first one set ; as it can be more readily reset in 
case the backward one has been so set as to affect the lead in 
the forward motion. 

Q. When is it not practical to equalize the cut-off of each 
end of the cylinder by changing the position of the saddle stud? 

A. Where the links are casehardened and the saddle bolted 
rigidly to the link. 

Q. What other way is there to equalize the fonvard motion? 

A. To change the length of the backing motion rods, thus 
affecting the equality of the lead as well as the cut-off in back 
gear. 

Q. In any other zvay? 

A. By giving up equality of lead in both forward and back- 
ward motion for equality of cut-off. 

Q. Should a piston valve be long or short? 

A. As long as possible, in order to give short steam passages. 



VALVE SETTING. 355 

Q. What is one of the advantages of the piston valve? 

A. It does not require balancing, as does the flat D valve. 

Q. Is steam most usually admitted at the center or the ends 
of a piston valve? 
A. At the center. 

Q. What are the advantages of this? 

A. That most of the cooling surface and the valve chamber 
come in contact with exhaust steam only; and the sterns need 
be protected against exhaust pressure only; also, the joints 
with the valve-chest heads are more readily kept tight. 

Q. Does it make any difference in the setting of the valve 
whether the steam is taken in at the center or at the ends? 
A. Yes ; the movement is just the reverse. 

Q. Hoiv may the opposite motion be obtained? 

A. Either by placing the eccentrics on the axle opposite from 
the usual position, or by doing away with the rocker arm and 
connecting the valve rod direct to the link block or a connec- 
tion from this latter. 

Q. If the eccentrics and crank pin are together and there is 
a rocker arm to reverse the motion, has the piston valve inside 
or outside admission? 

A. Outside. 

Q. If the eccentrics and the crank pin are together and there 
is no rocker arm, or the motion is direct, has the valve inside 
or outside admission? 

A. Inside. 

Q. If there is a rocker arm to reverse the motion, or the 
eccentrics of the crank pin are opposite, zvhich kind of admis- 
sion has the valve? 

A. Inside. 

0. Is valve setting on the road a usual occurrence? 
A. Xo. 



356 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

EXHAUST COUGHS. 

Q. Of what is it a sign when both exhausts on one side 
are heavier than those on the other? 

A. That that side has longer valve travel than the other. 

Q. What is the remedy? 

A. To shim up the tumbling-shaft box on the "heavy" side, 
or lower that on the "light" side ; or both. 

Q. What would cause this difference in the cough? 

A. Among other causes ( i ) unequal length of link hangers, 
(2) tumbling-shaft arms sprung, (3) engine low on one side, 
{4) truck spring broken, (5) loose bolt in eccentric strap, 
allowing it to open. 

Q. If there are three loud and one light cough when hooked 
up in forward motion, but all are alike when in the corner, 
what is probably zvrong? 

A. A back-up eccentric has slipped. 

Q. Which eccentrics are usually the hardest to get at? 

A. The back-up. 

Q. If the exhausts run one loud and one light alternating, 
what may be looked for? 

A. Broken link lifter, slipped eccentric, loose rocker-arm 
pin, loose rocker box, loose nuts on eccentric-strap bolt. 

Q. If you had three ordinary exhausts followed by one loud 
one? 

A. Slipped eccentric blade, loose or cut blade pin, loose 
valve-rod key. 

Q. In the first instance, how can you determine which eccen- 
tric has slipped, if you think this is the case? 

A. If hooked up in forward motion, it would probably be 
the back-up eccentric that caused the light coughs. 

Q. What may suddenly cause an irregular exhaust? 

A. A loose eccentric-strap bolt or blade bolt; loose valve- 
stem key; slipped eccentric, or broken valve yoke. 



HORSE POWER. 357 

Q. If the exhaust gets out of square on the trip, what does it 
indicate? 

A. Slipped eccentric, loose strap bolts or strap rods, broken 
valve yoke, or bent rocker arm. 

Q. Is there anything else not mentioned that wtiuld affect 
the sound of the exhaust? 

A. Loose exhaust pipe, one exhaust tip gone (where there 
are by rights two), bent lifter arm, loose rocker box. 

HORSE-POWER. 

Q. What is Watt's rule for determining the power of a 
single-cylinder engine? 

A. The horse-power is equal to twice the piston area in 
square inches, times the number of turns per minute, times the 
average steam pressure in pounds per square inch above 
atmosphere, times the stroke length in feet, divided by 33,000. 

0. How may this be altered so as to serve conveniently for 
tzco-cylinder locomotives? 

A. Multiply the square of the cylinder diameter in inches by 
the speed in miles per hour, by the average steam pressure in 
pounds per square inch above the atmosphere throughout the 
stroke, and by the length of stroke in inches, and divide the 
result by the driver diameter in feet and by 4,500. If the 
stroke is in feet, divide by 375. 

0. By this rule, find the horse-power of an engine with 
cylinders 18 inches in diameter, stroke 24 inches, driver diame- 
ter 6 feet, and average steam pressure 80 pounds, at 40 miles 
per hour? 

A. It is equal to (324 X 40 X 80 X 24) divided by 
6 X 4,500; or 921.6 horse-power. 

Q. What is the "Grifnshatio formula" for calculating gross 
horse-power? 

A. One w T hich comes "pat" to the memory, being H.P. = 



358 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

PAT 

in which P is the mean effective pressure in pounds 



33,000 
per square inch, A the mean piston area in square inches, and 

T the piston travel in feet per minute. Thus for m.e.p. 60 
pounds, area 200 square inches, travel 660 feet per minute, 
the gross H.P. is 60 X 200 X 660 -=- 33,000 = 240. 

Q. How do you get the piston speed in feet per minute when 
the number of miles per hour, the driving-tire diameter, and 
the stroke are known? 

A. Multiply the miles per hour by the stroke in inches and 
by 4,669, and divide by the tire diameter in feet. 

Thus : 45 miles per hour, 6-foot drivers, and 24-inch 
stroke ; then piston speed 45 X 24 X 4 -f- 6 = 840.42 feet per 
minute. 

Q. What is the piston speed of an engine having 18-inch 
stroke and four pairs of 54-inch drivers, at 60 miles an hour? 
. A. Sixty miles an hour equals 5,280 feet a minute. The tire 
circumference is 4.5X3-1416=14.1372 feet, and the wheel 
makes 5,280-^-14.1372 = 372.8 turns per minute. Conse- 
quently the piston makes 372.8 double strokes per minute and 
its speed per minute equals 372.8 X 20 X 2 -=- 12 = 1,243 
feet. 

Q. In an engine having 24-inch stroke and making 250 turns 
a minute, what is the average piston speed per second? 

A. 1 ,000 -r- 60 = 16 2/3 feet. 

Q. Is the power of a locomotive directly proportional to the 
speed? 

A. No ; because there is at high speeds imperfect steam 
admission and distribution, so that there is a point of speed 
which gives the maximum of economy. 

Q. What is the horse-power of a boiler? 

A. Boilers have no horse-power, as one engine might get 
twice as much pow r er out of the steam as another. But the 



INDICATOR. 359 

so-called commercial horse-power in America is the evapora- 
tion of 34j4 pounds of water per hour from feed at 212° F. = 
100 ° C. into dry steam at the same temperature. 

STEAM .CONSUMPTION. 

Q. What is the relation between steam consumption per 
hour per horse-power and train speed? 

A. It increases with the speed. Prof. Goss's tests show it 
as a minimum at 35 miles an hour (188 revolutions or 752 
feet piston speed a minute on the engine tested by him). 

Q. What is the relation between steam consumption per 
hour per horse-pozcer and point of cut-off? 

A. The former varies with the point of cut-off ; and ac- 
cording to Goss is not minimum at shortest cut-off, except at 
55 miles an hour. (296 revolutions or 1,184 ^ ee t piston 
speed a minute.) 

THE INDICATOR. 

Q. What is a steam-engine indicator? 

A. An appliance enabling one to ascertain clearly, among 
other things, the pressure at each point of the stroke for each 
end of the cylinder. 

Q. How is it constructed? 

A. There is a small cylinder which can be put in steam 
communication with the counterbore at either end of the cyl- 
inder (it is better to use one for each end). In this there 
plays accurately, but with little friction, a very light piston, 
which gives vertical motion to a pencil bearing lightly on a 
paper strip wrapped about a barrel parallel to the indicator 
cylinder, and which gets an almost complete to-and-fro rota- 
tion from the crosshead. This piston is forced up by the 
steam pressure in the engine cylinder against a spiral spring 
of known resistance. If there were no pressure in the cylin- 
der, this pencil would describe on the reciprocating paper a 



360 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM, 

Full Steam 



B.P. 

185.3 




j 85.3 



Fig. 237. Theoretical Diagram. 




Fig. 238. Indicator Diagram. 



INDICATOR. 



361 



straight horizontal line. Under constant pressure in the cylin- 
der the pencil would draw a straight line, the hight of which 
from the first line would represent the pressure. Under con- 
stant pressure during the entire out stroke and constant back 
pressure during the back stroke it would describe a rectangle 
slightly above, and parallel to, the first or atmospheric line, 
and the hight of which would represent the effective pressure. 
Under varying pressure, however, it describes a more or less 
irregular figure, called a "card'' or "diagram," the hight of 
which at various points represents the pressure at the corres- 
ponding stroke points, while the vertical distance of the under 
side from the straight horizontal atmospheric line measures 
the back pressure. (See Figs. 237 and 238.) Where expansion 
begins, the upper line falls toward out-stroke end ; where com- 
pression begins, it rises toward back-stroke end. 

Where the two cylinder ends have different pressures, as 
is usually the case at most cut-offs, the diagrams differ; so 
that the two must be taken simultaneously and the results 
averaged, to get the real mean effective pressure. 




Fig. 239. Indicator Attachments. 



362 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. Describe the system of indicator rigging that is used 
on the Plant system? 

A. As may be seen from Fig. 239, from the crank pin A 
there extends a horizontal piece B with a pin that plays in a 
slot in the lower end of a vertical lever L, pivoted at P to an 
offset piece E attached to the upper guide G and to the steam 
chest cover H. The upper end of this lever drives a hori- 
zontal rod R that passes through bearings 6" S 6" carried by 
the frame E. From this rod R runs a cord C to the indi- 
cator drum D. 

VALVE DIAGRAMS. 

Q. How may the relative positions of piston and valve, and 
the occurrences in cylinder and steam chest, be represented 
by a diagram? 

A. By drawing a semicircle the diameter AB of which 




Pre-admissiottv 

k g'lm* 

- Period of Full Steam , ^ Exhaust-*! 

Fig. 240. Valve Diagram. 

(Fig. 240) represents the piston stroke on one scale, the valve 
travel on another; drawing parallel to this diameter a line 
DE, the distance of which from the latter represents the lineal 
valve lead ; parallel to this again another line EG at a distance 
corresponding to the outside lap. Where this cuts the semi- 
circle at G, strike one circle with the steam lap as radius (this 
will be tangent to the lead line) and another with either the 



INDICATOR. 363 

exhaust lap or the inside clearance, as the case may be, as 
radius. From the center C of the semicircle draw two radii 
tangent to each of these lap circles, cutting the semicircle at 
points H, K, L, M. Where there is exhaust lap these cut 
the semicircle at points corresponding to crank-pin positions 
at cut-off, compression, release, and pre-admission respective- 
ly. (Where there is exhaust clearance then compression and 
release will simply exchange places.) Perpendiculars Hh, Kk, 
LI, Mm from these four cutting points to the semicircle diam- 
eter AB will cut the latter at points h, k, I, m, indicating the 
corresponding piston positions. The angle between the radius 
CG and the semicircle diameter is the amount in excess of 90 
that the eccentric belly must be set ahead of the crank. 

Q. Does the diagram thus made take any account of the 
irregularities caused by the angularity of the connecting rod? 
A. No; it shows the occurrences as taking place in both 
ends of the cylinder exactly alike. 

Q. How may the angularity of the connecting rod be taken 
account off 

A. By taking as radius the length of the connecting rod on 
the same scale as the piston stroke, and with centers on the 
semicircle produced in both directions drawing circular axes 
from H, K, L y M (instead of perpendiculars) to that diameter ; 
the eight new cutting points will indicate the earlier and later 
piston positions due to the rod. 

Q. Who invented this simple diagram? 
A. Hugo Bilgram of Philadelphia. 

Q. Suppose there is so-called negative lead, how is the 
diagram made? 

A. As before, only with the lead line DE below instead of 
above the semicircle diameter AB;. the lap to be measured as 
before from the lead line and not from the diameter. 

Q. How can this diagram be used to determine the de- 



364 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

sired amount of lap to cut-off, etc, at any desired piston posi- 
tion? 

A. By working it backwards; assuming the points h, k, I, 
and m, erecting the perpendiculars (or striking the arcs) and 
finding the middle positions where these last cut the semi- 
circle. 

STEAM DISTRIBUTION. 

Q. What are the various occurrences and periods in the 
steam distribution in the cylinder? 

A. Admission, full steam, cut-ofif, expansion, release, ex- 
haust, compression or cushion, in the order named. 

Q. Is not lead an occurrence? 

A. No ; lead is practically a time of occurrence. It is some- 
times called pre-admission, but when the admission is hast- 
ened all other occurrences are correspondingly hastened also. 

Q. In the full-steam period has the steam always full chest 
pressure? 

A. No; it usually drops, owing to the great piston speed 
and diminishing port area. 

THE FRAME. 

Q. What is the function of the frame? 

A. ( i ) To bear the weight of boiler, cylinder, and motion ; 
(2) to keep the running gear in place; (3) to stand the pulls 
and bufifs of running and shunting. 

Q. How are the frames of the ordinary American engine 
made? 

A. In two parts, a front and a back or main frame. The 
main frames are built up of wrought-iron bars, say four 
inches square in cross section, in pairs, one some distance 
above the other on each side, with double connecting pieces 
at each end, to form a sort of truss, the distance pieces 
being the pedestals, between the jaws of each pair of which 
comes an axle box. The two sides of each jaw are held from 



THE FRAME. 365 

spreading at the bottom by a clamp or cross piece, practically 
a continuation of the lower bar, which, as it is necessary to 
slip the axles and boxes in the jaws, cannot be solidly con- 
tinuous. The back leg of the back jaw is united to the upper 
bar by a diagonal brace welded to each. In front the upper 
and lower bars of the main frame are brought closer together 
by the upper one being turned down at an angle, so that they 
come together within about four inches. Betw r een them is 
bolted the rear end of the front frame bar, that runs to the 
front end of the engine, and is there bolted to one end of the 
bumper timber, which extends across the engine ; the cow- 
catcher or pilot being bolted to the front of this bumper tim- 
ber. In engines having six or eight driving wheels, the front 
frame is formed of both a top and a bottom bar or rail. In 
some cases, as where there are six or eight drivers coupled, 
the lower rail or bar of the frame is not forged in one piece 
with the pedestal jaws, but is bolted to their lower ends (as 
shown in Figs. 241 to 243.) 

Q. What is the use of the binding bars or caps at the bottom 
of the pedestal jaws? 

A. To bind the jaws together and thus preserve their par- 
allelism, and yet permit dropping out the axle boxes when the 
former are removed. 

Q. Are the frames strong enough to bear the weight of 
the boiler and all that is on it without yielding? 
A. No. 

Q. Why is the top rail of the rear part of the frame often 
dropped, back of the front driving box? 

A. To get a deep or wide fire-box. For the same reason 
the equalizing bar is- sometimes under the frame. 

Q. How is the wear of the inside of the pedestal jaws less- 
ened, and horizontal lost motion taken up? 

A. By shoes or wedges bolted to the inside jaw faces, and 



366 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



which can be adjusted by liners so as to grasp the axle boxes 
with just the desired degree of tightness. 

Q. What is the usual arrangement of shoe and wedge? 

A. The front liner is generally of equal thickness through- 







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THE FRAME. 367 

out; the back one tapered in thickness at the same angle as 
the face of the jaw itself, and supplied with an adjustment 
bolt, passing through the cap, so that wear of both jaw liners 
can be taken up by setting up the bolt. 

Q. What is the effect of this on the position of the box and 
axle as regards the jaws? 

A. They are driven backwards an amount corresponding to 
the w r ear of both liners and both sides of the box. 

Q. What is the arrangement of zvedge bolt on the Pennsyl- 
vania standard engines? 

A. It is hollow; threaded outside through its entire length 
from the head upward : has a jam nut against the cap ; through 
it passes a plain bolt, the head of which fits a T-slot in the 
under side of the box ; this latter and the jam nut of the hollow 
one are first loosened, then the hollow bolt set up and jam- 
med, and lastly the solid one jammed. 

Q. What is the object of the solid bolt? 

A. To lower the wedge. 

Q. Are the strains on the front and the back pedestal jaws 
equal when the engine is working? 

A. No; they are twice as much on the front jaws as on the 
back ones. 

Q. Hozc are the frames and boiler fastened together? 

A. At the front end they are wedged and bolted to the 
cylinders, which in turn are fastened to the smoke-box; but 
further than this there are diagonal braces, the lower ends of 
which are bolted to the bumper-timber and to the frame, 
and the upper bolted to the smoke-box ; and there are braces 
between the boiler barrel and the frames. At the fire-box 
end the frames pass through expansion clamps bolted to the 
side of the outer fire-box, so that as the boiler expands or 
contracts by rise or fall of temperature, the frames slip length- 
wise in these clamps. In addition, there are usually diagonal 



368 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

braces bolted above to the back end of the outer fire-box 
sheet, at about the hight of the crown sheet, their lower ends 
being bolted to the frames at their back ends. Cross braces 
attached to the lower bars each side of the engine unite the 
right and the left-hand frames. Still further, the guide yoke 
is usually bolted both to the frames and the boiler, so that 
these two members are quite fairly bound together, although 
lengthwise expansion and contraction from changes in tem- 
perature is permitted. 

Q. How much is this sliding of the frames through the ex- 
pansion clamps in an ordinary engine? 

A. About one-fourth of an inch; sometimes as much as 
five-sixteenths. 

Q. Why not have the frames on each side all in one piece 
the whole length of the engines? 

A. Because in repairing after a collision it would become 
necessary to take down the whole frame to repair only one 
end. The front being especially liable to accident, and the 
back part of the frame being especially difficult to take down 
by reason of the driving axles, common sense dictates to 
have the two parts separate. 

Q. What is a built-up frame? 

A. One in which the lower brace is fitted between, and 
bolted to, the pedestals. (Figs. 242 and 243.) 

Q. What is a slab frame? 

A. One in which the upper frame brace is reduced in width 
(horizontal thickness) and increased in vertical distance or 
depth ; to give more width between the frames for the fire-box 
— the bottom of which, however, cannot come below the lower 
bar. 

Q. Should frame bolts be straight or tapered? 

A. Most builders make them straight; but if tapered they 



THE FRAME. 



369 



will hold the frame together better; this being particularly 
true if they are long. 

Q. What different forms of pedestal legs are used? 

A. There is one type that has both jaws tapering on the 
inside, and another and later that has only one tapering, the 
other being square with the frame. 

Q. Where there is one straight and one tapering leg, to 
which one.is the (( long zvedge" fitted ? 

A. To the straight one. 

Q. What is one difficulty with narrozv-gage engines? 




Fig 244. Frame for Narrow-gage Engines. 

A. That there is not enough room for the fire-box between 
the frames; and it must be made very narrow, unless the 
frames are made with an off-set or cross plate projecting out- 




Fig. 245. Frame for Narrow-gage Engines. 

side of the wheels, as shown in Figs. 244 and 245, in which 
B B is the cross plate, bolted to the back ends of the arms. 
Two flat bars C C are bolted thereto and put far enough apart 



370 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

to give between them sufficient room for a fire-box as wide 
as desired. 

Q. What name is given to the distance piece between the 
top and the bottom bars or rails of the front frame, as on 
engines having six or eight drivers coupled ? 

A. The filling piece. 

Q. What name is often given to the upper bar of a bar 
frame? 

A. The top rail. 

Q. What name is given to the bar or frame forming the 
front part of the frame, and connected to the main frame? 

A. The front rail. 

EQUALIZING BARS. 

Q. What is the tendency of the connecting rods on an en- 
gine, as regards the smooth running of the engine? 

A. To cause pitching and rolling. 

Q. Hozv is this neutralized in great part? 

A. By springs and equalizing levers. 

Q. Hozv do equalizing bars distribute the weight of the 
engine equally on all drivers? 

A. Because if there were more weight put on the rear of 
the engine, back of the rear driving axle, tending to depress 
only the rear ends of the back springs, they would raise the 
rear ends of the equalizing bars, put a corresponding extra 
weight on those of the forward springs, and carry part of 
the extra weight to the front driving axle. The same prin- 
ciple applies to weight put anywhere on the engine; it will 
be distributed to both or all the driving axles. 

Q. What is the general effect of the system of supporting 
the weight of the back of the engine on equalizing bars? 

A. To suspend all that part from two points, thus hanging 
the entire weight of the engine from three points : the ful- 
crums of the equalizing bars, and the center pin. Three-point 



EQUALIZING BARS. 371 

suspension is the most suitable way that is known ; as witness 
the greater steadiness of a three-legged over a four-legged 
stool on an uneven floor. 

Q. Where do the equalizing bars most come into play? 

A. (i) On uneven track, where otherwise an excess of 
weight would be taken first by one box and then by another 
on the same side; (2) in running switches. 

0. IV hat is the object sometimes of putting the equalizers 
under the frames? 

A. To get the fire-box over the latter. 

Q. What forms the front support in an eight-wheel pas- 
senger engine? 

A. The center pin. 

0. IVhat is the front support in a Mogul? 

A. The fulcrum of that equalizing bar which joins the 
front springs and the pony truck. 

0. Hon* many points of support has a consolidation en- 
gine? 

A. Five ; the fulcrum of the equalizing lever connecting the 
pony truck and the front driving-wheel springs being the 
front point, the fulcrums of the equalizing levers between the 
driving wheels forming the other four. 

Q. Hon* many points of support has a ten-wheel engine? 

A. Five ; the truck center pin in front, and the fulcrums of 
the equalizing bars between the drivers. 

Q. IVhat is the advantage of hazing Mogul engines equal- 
ized betz^een the truck and tlie front drivers? 

A. If the truck goes over a rough part in the track, some 
of the strain is taken off its springs and thrown on the front 
driving* springs. 

Q. JJliat is to prevent irregularity of rail joints, and the 
effect of the unbalanced weight of the connecting rod, etc., 
lifting the entire engine up in a bouncing manner, thus giving 



372 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



it a chance to leave the rails, to say nothing of injury to the 

parts by the ensuing pounding and vibration? 

A. There are springs between the axle boxes and the frames, 

so that as the engine rises on one side the axle boxes on that 

side, and their axles and wheels remain in the proper posi- 
tion; and when the weight comes 
down on that side, the springs less- 
en the shock which would tend to 
injure axle box, axle, wheel, and 
rail ; to say nothing of the substruc- 
ture, as on a bridge. 

Q. What is the usual method of 
connection between the springs and 
the axle boxes and frames? 

A. There are U-shaped saddle 
pieces which bear on the tops of 
the axle boxes and surround the 
upper frame bars ; these are attach- 
ed to the centers of the two bot- 
toms of compound leaf springs, run- 
ning lengthwise of the engine and 
frames. From one end of each of 
these springs is a hanger, to the 
lower end of which is attached the 
frame, there being a spiral spring 
interposed at the fire-box end. 
From the other end of the spring 
there is a hanger, to the lower end 
of which is attached one end of an 
equalizing bar, the center of which 
is bolted to the upper frame bar, 
between driving axles. Thus most 
of the engine weight (that part 
borne by the driving axles) is hung 




THE SPRINGS. 373 

from both ends of each spring on each side of the engine ; 
and the equalizing bar which joins the rear end of the front 
driving axle spring to the front of the rear driving axle 
spring, aids in distributing the weight, so that neither spring 
gets an excess ; any excess that would otherwise go on the 
rear driving axle spring on either side, being partly carried 
forward to the front driving axle spring on the same side. 
(Fig. 246.) 

THE SPRINGS. 

Q. What is the character of the driving-axle springs?' 
A. Each is made of a series of leaves, of equal width but 
successively decreasing lengths, bound together in the center 
by a clip so as to act like a single bar, slightly curved, and 
thicker in the center than at the ends. As force is applied to 
the ends of these springs, tending to flatten them out, first the 
inner or longer leaves are flattened a trifle, then each of the 
others takes its share, in succession, so that the resistance of 
the spring is in some measure proportioned to the force 
applied. 

Q. What members of the locomotive have their weight and 
momentum taken directly by the track without the intervention 
of the springs? 

A. The axles, wheels, driving boxes, spring saddles and 
springs, coupling rods, part of the connecting rods and eccen- 
tric rods, and the eccentrics. 

Q. What may be said of the position of the springs? 
A. They are either above or below the boxes, according to 
the construction of the engine. 

Q. Are the driving-axle springs carried by any other means 
than by saddles? 

A. By carriers pinned to the under side of the driving 
boxes. 



374 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



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376 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What class of springs have the spring hangers? 
A. Spiral. 

Q. What was the reason for adopting under-hung springs? 

A. Because with modern engines with immense boiler diam- 
eter the space above the driving boxes is taken up by the 
boiler. 

Q. What is the advantage of the under-hung spring? 

A. If it breaks, or any of its hangers break, the end of the 
spring is not likely to get far out of place, and there is no 
danger of the equalizer flying up so far as to be difficult to 
replace. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of the under-hung spring saddle 
attached to driving box extending downward and encircling the 
spring at the hand? 

A. It prevents taking out the box cellar for packing the box, 
without jacking up the engine. 

Q. What are the advantages? 

A. If the spring on a hanger breaks, the spring end is not 
likely to get far out of place or the equalizer to fly up far and 
be hard to put back. 

Q. At what fixed points is the engine weight carried when 
springs and equalizers are in good order? 

A. On a standard engine the "permanent bearings" or fixed 
points are the equalizer centers, one each side of fire-box, and 
the center- bearing of engine truck; with Moguls, where the 
equalizer centers are fastened to frame and to center of cylin- 
der saddle. With almost all four-wheel switch engines the 
weight is also distributed on three points ; the back driving 
boxes and middle of that equalizer which extends between the 
forward ends of front driving springs. 

Q. Why are engines designed to carry their weight on three 
points? 

A. So that all wheels will bear evenly on the rail ; equalizers 



WHEELS AND AXLES. 37? 

are then used to distribute the weight to all the driving wheels 
evenly. 

Q. Where is the weight carried when blocked up over the 
forward driving box? 

A. If blocked up over forward driving box solid, this takes 
all the weight that was carried on both boxes on that side, and 
a little more, as the block comes more nearly under the engine 
center than the equalizer post does. If the block over driving 
box carries the weight which was before carried by equalizer, 
it will have a double load. When blocked up solid over a 
driving box, as with a broken tire, the weight of the entire 
engine comes on the engine-truck center, the equalizer post 
on the good side of engine and the block over driving box on 
the disabled side. 

Q. Where are ordinary spring hangers weakest? 
A. In the keyhole. 

Q. How may this be remedied? 



Fig. 257. Spring Hanger. 

A. By the arrangement shown in Fig. 257, as on the L. N. A. 
and C R. R. 

THE WHEELS AND AXLES. 

Q. Hozc many driving axles has the ordinary English pas- 
senger locomotive? 

A. One only, having of course but two driving wheels. 



378 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. How many has the ordinary standard American passen- 
ger locomotive? 

A. Two, with four driving wheels. 

Q. What is the advantage of having more than one pair of 
driving wheels? 

A. The weight is better distributed on rails and journals; 
and where the track is liable to be imperfect, if there should be 
imperfect adhesion of one pair of wheels, there will be another 
to help along. 

Q. What are the disadvantages of having two pairs of 
driving wheels? 

A. The rigid wheel base is increased, and the difficulty and 
danger of rounding curves, and the loss of power in doing so, 
increased. 

Q. What will tend to make an engine free running? 

A. Having the driving axles exactly at right angles to 
the center lines of the cylinder and parallel with all the other 
axles. 

0. What is the effect of not having the driving axle true 
with respect to the cylinder center lines and the other axles? 

A. A snaky motion, tending to make the engine weave more 
to one side of the track than the other, and thus wear the 
flanges on that side more than on the other. 

Q. What is the advantage of large driving wheels? 

A. They reduce the rotation speed and thus enable high 
speeds to be attained and keep down the piston speed, thus 
enabling the steam to be properly exhausted. They also reduce 
the injurious effects of the counterbalance weights, and lessen 
wire drawing and cushion. 

Q. What are their disadvantages? 

A. They set the engine too high; are more liable to jump 
the track at high speeds and on curves or by reason of obstruc- 
tions. 



WHEELS AND AXLES. 379 

Q. Which of the wheels slips in going around a curve — the 
inner or the outer? 

A. If the wheels are coned to allow the outer wheel to travel 
around its path in the same time that the inner one measures 
off its circumference on the rail, there will be no slip in either 
wheel ; but this is never found in practice, and slip does occur, 
for the reason that the outer wheel has a greater distance to 
cover than its mate on the same axle, and the slip of the wheels 
will therefore be measured by the difference in the distance 
they will travel in rounding the curve. 

Q. Has the size of driving wheel any effect on the mean 
effective pressure? 

A. At high speed it does. The larger the driver the better 
the result, especially with speeds of 40 to 60 miles, above 
which figure the smaller wheels catch up somewhat propor- 
tionately. 

Q. Does loss of pozver due to decreased mean effective press- 
ure imply loss of efficiency? 
A. No ; at any rate seldom or never in the same degree. 

Q. What is a common driving-wheel diameter of a British 
engine? 

A. Seven feet. 

Q. How many revolutions per minute would such engine 
make at 40 miles an hour? 
A. 160. 

Q. How many revolutions per minute would an American 
engine with five-foot drivers make at the same train speed? 
A. 233. 

Q. 'What is the disadvantage of the small-wheeled American 
engine in this particular? 

A. It not only has to make its stroke much more rapidly than 
the large-wheeled engine, but has to reduce the speed of the 
reciprocating parts from a much greater velocity ; therefore it 



380 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



requires greater compression to transfer part of the work 
represented by the piston momentum to the succeeding 
stroke. 

Q. What are the largest four-coupled drivers yet tried? 
A. 99-inch; tried some years ago on the Continent. 

Q. The largest four-coupled drivers in regular active 
service? 

A. Those of WorsdeU's 19^2 x 28-inch non-compound 
engine (No. 1870 and mates) on the Northwestern Railway of 
England, being 91 inches in diameter. 

Q. How are driving wheels usually constructed in America? 

A. With a single-piece iron casting as a center, about 

which is shrunk a wrought-iron or steel tire, usually the latter, 



u 




tm 



Fig. 258. Wheels, Axle and Tires. 
1. Axle. 2. Eccentrics. 3. Wheel-centers. 4. Wrist-pin. 5. Tires. 



WHEELS AND AXLES. 381 

the hub and rim (sometimes the spokes also) being corea out 
to lessen their weight and to give the metal the advantage of 
more ''skin" than would be the case with a solid casting. 

Q. What other way is there of making driving wheels? 

A. Of wrought iron, hydraulically forged in sectors, which 
are then hydraulically welded together ; also of one piece of 
steel pressed in dies hydraulically. 

0. Which are the blind or muley drivers on a six-wheeler? 

A. The main pair. 

Q. On a consolidation engine? 

A. The middle pair. 

Q. On a ten-wheeler? 

A. Usually the forward pair. 

Q. What materials are used for tires? 

A. Locomotive drivers always have steel tires ; but for 
trucks, especially under tenders, tireless chilled cast-iron 
wheels, solid rolled tireless steel wheels, and steel-tired wheels 
are extensively used. 

Q. What is the rule for number of spokes in locomotive 
drivers? 

A. The diameter of the center in inches divided by four; 
if the remainder is one-half or over, one more spoke ; that is a 
44-inch center should have 11 spokes, an 80-inch 20. 

Q. What is the advantage of having an odd number of 
spokes? 

A. There is an impression among pattern makers and 
foundrymen that it is better not to have two spokes diametri- 
cally opposite. 

Q. What standard specifications for locomotive driving and 
engine-truck axles have been adopted by the American Rail- 
way Master Mechanics' Association? 

A. Material : Open-hearth steel. Chemical Requirements : 
Phosphorus not to exceed 0.05 per cent ; sulfur not to exceed 



382 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

0.05 per cent ; manganese not to exceed 0.60 per cent. Physical 
Requirements : As minimum tensile strength, 80,000 pounds 
per square inch ; elongation in two inches, 20 per cent ; reduc- 
tion in area, 25 per cent. 

Q. What are the advantages of crank axles? 

A. As during the motion of the train the forces of retarda- 
tion and acceleration act in unison with the course of motion 
of the train during one-quarter of each rotation of the drivers, 
but in contrary directions to one another during the next 
quarter, there are sudden changes at each quarter revolution, 
even at moderate speeds, producing racking stress, aggravated 
by lost motion in the working parts. Crank axles centralize 
the stress, and also permit putting the cylinders where they 
are better protected from radiation of heat and from cylinder 
condensation by their inclosed positions. During the first and 
third quarters, when the disturbing forces work together, the 
distribution of the stresses is about the same as with outside 
cylinders, and there will be no racking stress ; but during the 
other quarters the disturbing forces are practically balanced; 
and only light counter weights are needed to balance the 
coupling rods and wrist pins. 

Q. What are the advantages of a built-up crank axle as 
against a solid one? 

A. All its parts are forged and machined separately, which 
reduces the possibility of hidden flaws, as in a solid casting; 
if any part wears excessively or is broken, it can be replaced 
by another. 

THE TIRES. 

O. What is to prevent a broken tire coming off the wheel? 

A. There is often a series of bolts holding it to the wheel 
rim from within the latter; or what is better, grooves are 
turned in its flat sides and in these are placed the projecting 
fillets of retaining-rings, bolted to the rims ; so that if the tire 



THE TIRES. 



383 



should break the parts will be clamped to the wheel center by 
these rings. 

Q. How are the driving wheels fastened to their axles? 

A. Their hubs are bored out a trifle smaller than the diam- 
eter of the axles in the "fit" and they are then pressed on 
hydraulically, or by a powerful screw press. 
, Q. What is to prevent the wheels turning on, instead of 
with their axles, by reason of there being two connecting 
rods acting at points po° apart, on two wheels, at opposite ends 
of the same axle? 

A. Square keys are driven in grooves or keyways in hubs 
and axles. 

Q. How should driving wheels be made for engines that 
are to run on roads which are to have their gage narrowed? 

A. The wheel center should be made wider than necessary, 
and the tire set to conform to the present gage ; then when 




-QpB- 



Fig. 259. Wheel-centering to Permit Gage-narrowing. 

it is desired to narrow the gage the tire may be moved further 
in, and the projection thus left on the outside of the wheel 
center turned off. This is shown in Fig. 259. 



384 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What is flan ge friction? 

A. The friction of the flanges against the inside edges of the 
rail heads, due partly to slewing. 

Q. Hozv may it be lessened? 

A. By lubrication, as is practised on some of the European 
railways ; usually by a block of tallow pressed against the 
flanges, care being taken not to let it get on the wheel treads. 

Q. In running around a curve, what is the tendency of any 
wheel pair zvhich does not turn with its axle? 

A. As the outer rail is longer than the inner on the curve, 
and as both wheels must make the same number of rotations, 
either the outer wheel must skid on the outer rail, without 
turning as often as it should for the distance passed over, or 
the inner one must slip on the inner rail, making more turns 
than the distance passed over requires, or both. 

Q. Can this be prevented by coning the wheel treads so that 
the pair may slide away from the outer rail and thus give the 
outer one a larger effective diameter than it had, and the innel 
one a smaller? 

A. This will be effective only in case the amount of taper 
or cone given the treads is directly proportionate to the curve 
radius. Each degree of curvature requires a different taper; 
furthermore, the action in passing around a curve at high speed 
is to throw the entire machine toward the outer rail, which is 
just the opposite direction to that required to make the coning 
effective. 

Q. What is the effect where -the wheel slips or skids without 
turning enough? 

A. To flatten it in spots. 

Q. What is the effect where a wheel turns more than is 
required for the distance passed over? 

A. To wear both it and the rail unduly; and as the tire is 
usually softer than the rail it generally gets the worst of it. 



THE TIRES. 385 

Q. What are the causes of badly-worn flats on wheels? 

A. (i) Soft spots, (2) unequal steam distribution, (3) bad 
braking, (4) bad counterbalancing, (5) journals worn out of 
circle. 

Q. What are the causes of driver flanges on one side of the 
engine cutting more than on the other? 

A. (1) The pull on the division being heavier in one direc- 
tion than on the other, (2) one wheel larger than the other, 
(3) journals of unequal diameter. 

0. Why have standard gage car wheels and locomotive 
wheels inside {instead of outside) flanges? 

A. The inside flange helps hold the wheel on the axle, 
whereas the outside one would aid the ''weaving" motion to 
pull it off lengthwise. Every little helps. 

Q. Then why is not this the case on "industrial" railways 
and very narrow- gage lines? 

A. Because in rounding very sharp curves the outside flange 
helps increase the radius of the outside wheel. 

Q. Are all the driving zvheels always supplied with tires? 

A. No, some builders leave the front pair without. 

Q. What name is given to a flangcless driving-wheel tire? 

A. It is variously called plain, muley, and blind. 

Q. In Mogul engines, which pair of tires is made blind? 

A. The middle one. 

Q. In ten-wheel engines, with six drivers, which wheels are 
flangcless? 

A. The front pair; the four-wheel truck doing the guiding 
at that end. 

Q. In consolidation engines, which drivers are plain or 
blind? 

A. On some roads, only the second pair from the front, on 
others the two middle pairs ; on some others, the second and 
fourth pairs. 



386 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. On consolidation engines, which pair should have flanges 
and which should be blind? 

A. The front and rear pairs should have flanges, because the 
pony truck is not always a safe guide, and the rear of the 
engine should have flanges anyway ; then the two center pairs 
may be left without flanges. 

Q. What is the object of blind or plain tires? 
A. To enable an engine with a long rigid wheel base to 
round sharp curves without undue flange friction. 

Q. What is the object, in some zvheels, of the shoulder on 
the wheel-center rim, against which the tire is pressed? 

A. To prevent the tire from slipping inward when the flange 
is working against the rail. 

Q. Where only is this desirable, and why? 

A. Where driver brakes are used, as their frequent use tends 
to expand and hence loosen the tire. 

Q. How thin can a tire be zvorn with safety before it is 
necessary to remove it? 

A. Thinner in warm than in cold climates ; thinner in sum- 
mer than in winter; thinner with light engines than with 
heavy ; say, as a minimum, one and one- fourth inches for light 
engines in warm climates and summer. 

Q. Which is desirable, a thick or a thin tire? 

A. A thick one, because stronger, and enabling the wheel to 
run longer without renewal ; because also, there is less per- 
centage of material thrown away without use, when the tire 
is removed. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of excessive tire thickness, say 
over four inches? 

A. It puts on the rails and their joints too much weight 
without the intervention of springs. 

Q. What is the minimum permissible thickness to which 
steel tires of wheels are allowed to be worn? 



THE TIRES. 38? 

A. For tender wheels, one inch, measured normal to the 
tread and radial to the curved portions of the flange through 
the thinnest part, within 4^4 inches from the flange back, the 
thickness from the latter point to the outer edge of tread to be 
not less than one-half inch. To facilitate inspection the practice 
has been adopted of cutting' a small groove in the outer face 
of all tires when the wheels are new, at a radius of one-fourth 
inch less than that of the tread when worn to the prescribed 
limit. 

Q. Is the influence of cone or taper on the wheel treads 
increased or lessened until the distance between axles? 
A. Diminished. 

Q. What are the causes of tire wear? 

A. Slipping at high speeds, due to centrifugal force in the 
counterbalance (wheels having too little counterbalance show- 
ing less wear than those overbalanced), the almost inappreci- 
able slip at starting, and the catching of wheels on the rails 
after a violent slip through one or more revolutions. 

0. Should driving-wheel tires be softer than the rails, or 
harder, or of the same hardness? 

A. Softer, because their renewal is more readily effected 
when worn down, and inequality is more readily detected. 

Q. Which can be worn the longer — hard or soft tires? 

A. Soft. 

Q. What is about the limit at which hard tires break in 
service? 

A. About 1^/4. inches in thickness seems about to be the 
experience. 

Q. Why do they break? 

A. Probably by reason both of the battering on the rails 
and the high tensile strain to which they are subjected in 
shrinking on. 

Q. What connection have high steam pressure and flat tires? 



38$ LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. High pressures generally mean early cut-off and plenty 
of lead and cushion; at each stroke end the piston stands still 
until all lost motion on that side is taken up ; and during this 
period the wheel on that side slides, hence wears a flat place 
on the tire. 

Q. Does the right-hand tire flatten at the corresponding 
point zvith the left? 
A. No. 

JOURNALS AND BEARINGS. 

Q. What name is given to those parts of the axle which 
bear against the brasses? 

A. The journals ; this being the common name for the bear- 
ing portion of a rotating piece. 

Q. What character of bearing do these journals have? 

A. Usually brasses with semicircular bearing surfaces, and 
held in cast-iron or cast-steel journal boxes which have also, 
below the axle, an oil box or cellar, held up to the axle by 
two bolts. These journal boxes slide vertically in the* pedestals 
or horn pieces, so that the entire engine may rise and fall with 
rapid running, without the wheels being raised from the 
track. 

Q. What are the two principal classes of driving brasses 
used? 

A. (i) Octagonal, (2) cylindrical. 

Q. What are the objections to octagonal brasses? 

A. They are more difficult to fit than the cylindrical, and 
more liable to close on the axle. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of babbitting brasses? 

A. The dust gets into the babbitt and cuts the axle ; so that 
what would be very good practice where dust was not liable 
to get in, would be bad usage here. 

Q. What is the most common usage as regards material for 
bearings? 



JOURNALS AND BEARINGS. 389 

A. Soft metal for engine and tender journals, and babbitted 
strips in rod and driving-box brasses. Soft metal cannot be 
relied on under all circumstances, as in case of a hot journal 
the metal or bearing is apt to crush or break in pieces. 

Q. What is the advantage of a cast-steel driving box with a 
bronze shell or lining? 

A. Cheapness and convenience of renewal after wear of the 
contacting surfaces. 

Q. What may be said of malleable-iron driving boxes? 

A. They are good if the side next the hub is spotted with 
babbitt; else, they cut the cast-iron hubs. 

Q. Should oil cellars be straight or tapering? 

A. Tapering, to facilitate removal. 

Q. What per cent of the surface of a bearing , such' as a 
driving box, is figured as supporting the load, and what is the 
usual pressure allowed per square inch? 

A. It is now customary to figure the "vertically projected'' 
area from the journal diameter and the length of the bearing 
as the supporting surface. Given driver bearings 9x13 inches, 
9 x 13 = 117 square inches is the projected area. If the load 
on each wheel is 24,750 pounds, dividing this by 117 gives 
21 1.5 pounds per square inch. 

Q. What is the advantage of a cast-steel box with a shell, 
over a solid one? 

A. That it may be renewed more cheaply ; also it does not 
close up so readily when worn part way through. 

Q. What effect will an engine being low on one side be apt 
to have on the bearings? 

A. The back end of the connecting-rod brasses, or the cross- 
head, may heat on that side. 

Q. IV hat is Babbitt metal properly? 

A. An alloy of 9 parts of tin and 1 part of copper, for 
journal bearings ; so called from its inventor, Isaac Babbitt, of 



390 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Boston. Some variations have been made; among the pub- 
lished compositions are: 

Copper i I 

Antimony I 5 

Tin 10 50 

(Another formula substitutes zinc for antimony.) 

The term is commonly but falsely applied to any white 
bearing alloy, as distinguished from those in which copper 
predominates. 

Q. What is a lead-lined journal bearing? 

A. One having its inner surface covered with a thin layer 
of lead, so that it may fit itself to the journal when worn. 
They are often called Hopkins bearings. (A variety of others 
are more or less similar, but a greater quantity of lead or 
Babbitt metal is frequently used.) 

WEDGES AND SHOES. 

Q. What is the usual arrangement of driving-box wedges on 
modern engines? 

A. With a wedge behind the box and a stationary shoe in 
front. 

Q. How is the box got back zvhere the shoe is in front? 

A. The shoe must be removed and "shims" or liners put 
between it and the jaw. 

Q. How is it got ahead? 

A. The shoe must be planed off the desired amount. 

Q. What is the advantage of the single wedge arrange- 
ment? 

A. The engine cannot be put out of tram by enginemen 
setting up the wedges at haphazard. 

Q. What is the main object in lining up shoes and zvedges? 

A. To get the axes of the driving wheels and axles at right 
angles to the frames and parallel to each other, and to keep the 



WEDGES AND SHOES. 391 

distance from the axis of one driving wheel pair to that of the 
next the same as the length of their coupling rod. 

Q. What must be the condition of driving shoes and wedges? 

A. The faces must be parallel with the axle and at right 
angles to the top of the frame; the main ones must be just so 
thick as to bring the axle center in the pedestal mid-line on 
one side of the engine at least; on the other, just so thick as 
to hold the axle at right angles to the cylinder axis. The other 
shoes should give the proper distance between driving-axle 
centers. All should be parallel with the wedges. 

Q. Hoiv can the driving axles be got at right angles to the 
cylinder axis? 

A. Lines are to be drawn through the cylinder axes and 
extended three feet back of the back heads. A sliding double 
square such as is shown in Fig. 260 is to be clamped across the 



d , , b - b , . d 



Fig. 260. Sliding Square. 

frames about six inches back of the heads and slid out until 
the arms (which are vertical) touch the cylinder lines. By 
means of an adjustable tram such as is shown in Fig. 261 a 



Fig. 261. Adjustable Tram. 



point is found on the saddle casting half way between the 
center cylinders and as low as possible. Its point a being put 
against the vertical part of the double square at one of tw r o 
marks e, at equal distances above the cylinder lines, with the 
point b an arc is to be scribed on the saddle casting as nearly 
.as possible to the center. The same is to be done on the other 
side of the engine ; the tram arcs should intersect near the 



392 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



bottom of the saddle casting. The center is marked with a 
punch ; we will call it a. 

On the outside of the frame, lines b b c c are to be drawn 
parallel with its upper edge, and all at equal distances there- 
from; on the front jaw of each front pedestal c c is to be 
drawn parallel with b b, the same distance therefrom on both 
sides. 

With the point a an arc /, Fig. 262, is to be scribed on each 
front jaw, across c c ; the crossings prick-punched; we will call 
them c. A line joining x and x will be at right angles to the 




Fig. 262. Locomotive Frame. 

cylinder axes. With a T-square a line is to be drawn through 
x at right angles to each frame top, and the crossing d of this 
line with C C prick-punched. A line d d will be parallel to x x, 
hence at right angles to the cylinder axes. 

To get the point h, through which a line at right angles to 
the frame top will cut the center of the pedestal, a line is drawn 



Ef 



s§= 



J 



Fig. 263. Adjustable Tram. 



from the upper end of the front pedestal jaw at right angles 
to bb; the crossing e pricked. A similar line is drawn from /, 
half way between the back pedestal-jaw ends; where it cuts 
C C we will call g. Point h is midway between c and g. With 
the distance d h from d as center on the opposite frame, an 



WEDGES AND SHOES. 



OCiO 



arc is scribed across C C ; the intersection // is the point for 
that frame. 

With a T-square a line is scribed through //, across each 
pedestal binder. A center-punch mark i being made thereon, 
an arc is scribed with h on the opposite frame as center, across 
the line previously scribed across the binder edge ; this gives i 
for the opposite side. 

The distance h j should be 1/32 inch less than the side-rod 
length (measured between rod-brass centers) and is to allow 
for influence of temperature. 

To find /, Fig. 262, in each brass is put a piece of wood on 
which to mark the center; the "effective length" of the rod is 
trammed, and the tram then shortened 1 '32 inch. From 
center // an arc is scribed, crossing b b in j /, and from center 7, 
one across the edge of the back binder. With / as center and 
distance Ji i an arc is scribed on the back binder, cutting the 
first one in k. The points for the other side are similarly 
found. 




Fig. 264. Driving Box. 

The driving box being calipered with 7 and k as centers, the 
arc / on the frame and l x on the binder are scribed, with half 
the box diameter as radius. Then the shoe face must lie in a 



394 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



straight line with / and /, in order for the axle center t to come 
in line with / and k. (Fig. 264.) 

Q. In case the box is bored out of center, zvhat should be 
done? 

A. A wooden flush center put in the brass, and the center t 
found ; a line e r scribed, at right angles to m n and through t, 
and a line f parallel to m n and exactly opposite the box face. 
With radius r t the arcs / / x are scribed. 

Q. Hozv long should the shoes be? 

A. 1/32 inch shorter than the clear pedestal opening. 

Q. Hozv long should the zvedges be? 

A. About two inches shorter than the shoes. 

Q. To zvhat should the shoes and zvedges be faced? 

A. To the pedestal jaws. 

Q. Hozv would you lay out the shoes for planing? 

A. Each being in its proper place, a 5/16 inch block is put 
between their lower ends and the binder; they are held apart 
by "spreaders, " Fig. 265, top and bottom ; a 5-foot straight edge 





H 


■pnnn 





Fig. 265. Spreader. 



is wedged * between the binders and the bottom spreader as 
shown at 0, Fig. 262, and one between the top spreader and the 
pedestal top. With a small straight edge h, Fig. 262, the others 
are adjusted with their front edges in line between / and k 
(or h and i). This will bring them in line with the axle 
center. An adjustable square is set to half an inch more than 
the driving-box width (if the box is not bored centrally) to r t, 
Fig. 264, plus y 2 inch ; set against the back edge of the short 
straight edge, with the blade extending along the side of the 
shoe flange and parallel with the frame as in Fig. 262. Lines 



WEDGES AND SHOES. 395 

are scribed along the blade end on each shoe flange : one on the 
outside flange near the end, one inside near the middle. After 
planing, the shoe faces should be just y 2 inch from the flange 
lines. 

Q. How can the wedges be laid out? 

A. The shoes being held in place by spreaders, the square is 
set to the box width plus y 2 inch, and with its head against 
the shoe face lines scribed on the wedge flanges as with the 
shoes ; the wedges are then planed by these lines. 

0. How is the flange thickness determined? 

A. By marking on a smooth slat, Fig. 266, the distance a b 

c e d t> 

al TT~TT1 

Fig. 266. Thickness Gage. 

between wheel hubs and that a c between outside frame faces ; 
drawing a line d across the stick, at a distance from b equal 
to the desired lateral motion of the engine — say 3/32 inch for 
the front wheels, y% inch for the back. The distance d e must 
be double the thickness of the outside driving-box flange ; half 
c c will be the outside flange thickness of shoes and wedges. 

The inside flanges should be planed off to bring the width 
of shoes and wedges 3/32 inch less than the distance between 
driving-box flanges ; all corners to clear the box fillets. 

Q. What ways are recommended for "setting up" wedges? 

A. (1) Set tank brake as a precaution; place on the back 
center the crank pins of the side you wish to adjust; put 
reverse lever in or near center notch. You will then have a 
lead opening in the back steam port of the side on which you 
are working, while on the opposite side the ports will be 
covered. Open throttle, and the driving boxes will be drawn 
against the dead wedges. Loosen set screws in side of jaws 
and nuts under binder brace, and wedges may be easily pried 
up with a short steel bar. Run the nuts on top of binders 



396 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



down with the fingers, then tighten the nuts under binder, and 
the side is finished. Place the crank pins of the opposite side 
on back center, and proceed in the same way. (2) With the 
engine near the top quarter on the right side, lever front, 
driver brake cut out, tender brake set or drivers blocked, 
throttle partly open, so that the steam will pull the crank pin 
ahead a bit as in Fig. 267. Pull the driver box against the shoe 




Fig. 267. Crank Pin and Driving Axle. 

and leave a space between the back of the box and the jaw. 
Then with the engine a quarter of a turn ahead, the same 
operation as the left side. 

Q. How tight should main wedges be set? 

A. Tight enough to prevent pounding of the box, but loose 
enough to let oil between them and the shoes. 

Q. When should wedges be set? 

A. Before pounding commences ; that is they should be 
"felt" regularly and set up as per the answer to the last 
question. 

Q. Hozv tight should other wedges than the main ones 
be set? 

A. A trifle more loosely than the main ones. 



WEDGES AND SHOES. 397 

Q. How should a key be driven? 

A. With a lead or copper hammer, or with a block of wood 
between it and an ordinary hammer. 

Q. What should be done to a key, in order to knozc just hoz^ 
far it is driven? 

A. It should be marked on the under side flush with the 
strap, so that the amount which it is driven in at each blow 
may be noticed ; and also, that if it is slacked up it may be put 
back in exactly the same position. 

Q. What is meant by "out of tram"? 

A. An engine may be "out of tram" in several ways, and 
any of them remedied without taking wheels from under her. 
(i) The distance from the saddle center to the main journals 
may not be the same; (2) the distance between axle centers 
on each side may not be the same; or (3) if both of the above 
points were right, the side rods might be too long or too short. 

Q. When is an engine "out of quarter"? 
A. When the crank pins on the opposite sides are not at 
right angles to each other. 

Q. Hozc may this be corrected? 

A. By taking out the wheels, and if the axle is too good to 
reject, boring enough out of the pinholes, in the quartering 
machine, to correct the evil, and putting in new pins. 

Q. When is the proper time to set up zvedges and key up 
main-rod brasses; and why? 

A. After the engine has finished the run, because the bear- 
ings are expanded as much as they ever should be. 

Q. In what position should the engine be for setting up 
zvedges? 

A. On the top eighth forward of the quarter, on the right 
side ; lever in front notch to carry the brass forward off the 
wedges, the truck wheels being well chocked. 

Q. What should be seen to before setting Up the wedges? 



398 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. That the side rods do not bind, and the wedge is well 
oiled or graphited. 

Q. Should one wedge be set up at a time? 

A. No ; that might change the tread. 

Q. Should wedges be adjusted when the engine is cold, or 
when steam is up? 

A. When steam is up, by reason of the expansion that would 
take place and throw the whole thing out after the boiler was 
filled, if the wedging was done on a cold engine. 

Q. Should brasses be lined or keyed zvhen the engine is cold, 
or with steam up? 

A. With steam up, by reason of the expansion that takes 
place when the engine is fired. 

Q. Should valves be set with the engine cold or hot? 

A. Hot, and not only that, but with steam on, because that 
makes it easier to turn over the engine. 

Q. When an engine is running ahead and pulling a train, 
on zvhich pedestal jaw is the most strain, on the front or the 
back; or is it equal? 

A. The strains on the front and- back of the jaw are equal, 
exerted on the front when the crank is above the axle, and on 
the rear when it is below. 

Q. In adjusting wedges, what is the first thing to see? 

A. That the pedestal bolts are snug up. 

Q. How can the amount of slack-up be calculated? 



A. If the wedges are tapered 1/16 inch per inch: 
per foot, then pull down for — 



inch 



Main Wedges 
Front Wedge»s 
Back Wedges. 



Consolidations, 

Moguls, 

io-wheelers. 




8-WHEELERS. 



X in. 



WHEEL BASE. 399 

Where the taper is 1/32 inch per inch or 3/§ inch per foot, 
pull down half that amount. 

0. How would you train an old engine having worn boxes? 

A. Exactly as when in good condition, but taking up lost 
motion all in one direction ; that is, keeping the boxes against 
the shoes, by blocking the truck and pinching the wheels ahead 
in all cases. 

WHEEL BASE. 

0. What name is given to the distance between axle 
centers? 

A. Spread. 

Q. What name is given to the total distance between the 
centers of the front and back wheels? 

A. Total wheel base. 

0. What name is given to the distance between front and 
back driving-wheel centers? 

A. Rigid wheel base. 

Q. What is the effect, on the resistance to rolling, of lessen- 
ing the distance between truck axles? 

A. Up to a certain point to diminish it. 

Q. What is the advantage of placing the driving axles be- 
tween furnace and smoke box? 

A. That the overhanging weight of the furnace in the rear 
balances that of the cylinders, smoke box, etc., in front, thus 
distributing the engine weight. 

0. What is the disadvantage of having over nine feet be- 
tween any two drivers? 

A. It makes a coupling rod which is too heavy and too liable 
to break. 

0. In ordinary ten-wheel engines (see Fig. 10) is the dis- 
tance greater between the front and the middle pair of driving 
axles, or between the middle and the rear pairs? 

A. Between the middle and the rear. 



400 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What is the objection to the six-wheel connected engine 
with an axle back of the fire box, as is sometimes built? 

A. The overhanging weight of cylinder, smoke box, etc., 
brings undue weight on the front pair of wheels. 

0. What is one of the principal objects in inclining the 
cylinders? 

A. To get the leading wheels well forward. 

Q. What is the advantage of getting the driving zvheels well 
back? 

A. To give the greatest weight where it will cause adhesion, 
and to lessen to some extent the tendency of the connecting 
rod to cause pitching and rolling. 

Q. What is the measure of the wheel base? 

A. The distance from the center of the trailing axle to that 
of the leading axle. 

Q. What measures the rigid wheel base of an engine? 

A. The length between pin centers of the parallel rod : or 
where there are more than one on each side, the total lengths 
of such rods on one side. 

WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION. 

Q. How much weight is it safe, as far as the rails are con- 
cerned, to put on each axle, with rails zveighing 30 pounds per 
yard? 

A. About 8,000 pounds. 

Q. How much is it safe for heavy steel rails, to place on each 
driving axle? 

A. About 30,000 pounds. 

Q. What enabled the Mogul engine to be possible? 

A. The invention of the pony truck (see Fig. 272), which 
permits the front driving wheels to be placed further forward 
than on a ten-wheel engine with a four-wheel truck one axle 
of which is in front and the other back of the cylinders. 



WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION. 401 

Q. What may be said of the tractive power of the Mogul 
as compared with the ten-wheeler? 

A. It has greater hauling power, try reason of having a 
greater proportion of weight on the drivers. 

Q. At what point is an engine's weight supported when it is 
in working order? 

A. At the spring hanger and equalizer fulcrums, transferred 
by means of spring saddles and equalizers to drivers, lead and 
trailer wheels, except in case of four-wheel trucks, in which 
part of the weight is supported by the center casting resting on 
the truck frame, and transferred to the truck wheels by the 
springs and equalizers. 

Q. What is an equalizer, equalizing beam, or equalizing 
lever? 

A. A beam connected at each end to a driving or truck 
spring, or to the end of another similar beam, to distribute the 
weight of an engine or tender to two or more axles, and pre- 
vent excessive load upon one axle by reason of inequalities of 
track or bed. Locomotives having two driving axles have these 
two equalized together ; those with three or more commonly 
have the forward driving axle equalized with the leading 
truck. Equalizers are always used for four-wheeled engine 
trucks, and frequently with tender trucks. The British name 
is compensating beam. They are designated "transverse" when 
they connect the equalizing systems on the two sides of the 
locomotive. They are also designated by their position as 
equalizer, top of box ; equalizer between drivers, etc. 

Q. If there are three pairs of drivers with two pairs of 
equalizers, and a weight of 96,000 pounds is applied vertically 
at the center of each lever, hozv much comes on each wheel? 

A. On each center wheel 24,000 pounds, on each of the 
others 12,000. 

0. How must the load be applied so as to give each wheel 
the same load? ... - ...._.--■ 



402 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A a At points two-thirds away from the center wheel pair; 
this will put 16,000 pounds on each wheel of the first and third 
pairs and twice 8,000=16,000 on each one of the center pair. 
(Fig. 268.) 




Fig. 268. Equalizing Weight on Drivers. 

Q. In equalizing an engine, should the spring hanger length 
be changed? 

A. No ; if the spring is weak, liners should be put under the 
gib in the hanger; when it has full set the liners should be 
taken out. 

Q. Why should the change be made in the spring and not in 
the hanger? 

A. Because the hanger never changes, while the spring con- 
stantly does so. 

Q. What is a traction increaser? 

A. An arrangement for transferring a portion of the weight 
from the leading or traveling truck to the drivers, to increase 
the tractive power in starting. It consists of a cylinder sup- 
plied with compressed air and containing a piston the rod of 
which, by operating a set of levers, shifts the fulcrum of the 
equalizing beam that connects the driving and trailing truck 
springs on 4-4-2 type of engines. Locomotives of the 2-6-2 type 
have the piston rod of one traction-increaser cylinder applied 
to the equalizer connecting the forward truck with the front 
transverse equalizer, and that of the other applied to the trail- 
ing trucks as above stated. The device is operated from the 
cab ; in some designs the air valve is so connected with the 
reverse lever that it is closed and the normal distribution of 
weight on the drivers restored as soon as the reverse lever is 



THE TRUCK. 403 

moved back to a certain point ; say when cutting off at about 
60 per cent. 

THE TRUCK. 

Q. What is a truck/ 

A. A frame bearing one or more pairs of non-driving wheels 
and attached to the engine frame (one end of which it sup- 
ports) by a vertical center pin about w r hich it turns. 

Q. What is the use of the truck ? 

A. Partly to guide the engine around curves and about 
switches, and partly to take from the drivers some of the 
excess of weight that would not be good for their bearings or 
for the rail joints. 

O. What is the use of two wheel pairs in the front truck, 
instead of one? 

A. That one may guide the other; as it is more difficult to 
guide a single pair of front wheels when pushed, than a pair 
that is pulled. 

Q. Where there are two truck-wheel pairs, where is the cen- 
ter pin placed? 

A. Equidistant from each axle. 

Q.. Where there is but one truck-zvheel pair, as in the so- 
called pony or Bissell truck, where is the center pin? 

A. Back of the axle ; the further back the more easily the 
truck will turn, and the better it will guide the engine. 

Q. Hozc is the truck usually made? 

A. With two axles running in boxes playing between jaws 
(which, however, have no wedges to take up lost motion, as 
have those of the driving-axle boxes) attached to the lower side 
of a rectangular frame forged in one piece. On each side is 
a leaf spring, convex side up. On each axle box rests the ends 
of a pair of equalizing levers (one inside and the other outside 
the frame, on each side), and to these the spring ends are hung 
by hangers. On the spring strap rests the truck frame; so 



404 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



that it is supported on two points, and the front end of the 
engine is borne on one point of the same frame, at the center 
plate. (See Figs. 269 and 270.) 




(14 



Fig. 269. Kngine Truck. 

Q. How are engine trucks designated? 

A. (1) As "four-wheel" or "bogie" trucks, (2) as "two- 
wheel" or "pony" trucks when ahead of the drivers, and (3) 




Fig. 270. Four- Wheel Truck. 

1. Center-pin. 2. Swing Bolster. 3. Swing-bolster Cross-tie. 4. Swing-bolster 
Iyink. 5. Truck Frame. 6. Truck Pedestal. 7. Truck-pedestal Cap. 8. Equalizing- 
beam. 9. Spring Iyink. 10. Axle. 11. Wheel. 12. Radius-bar. 13. Radius-bar Brace. 
14. longitudinal Brace. 15. Spring-staple. 16. Spring-seat. 17. Safety-strap. 

as "tw T o-wheel" or "four-wheel" trailing trucks respectively, 
when back of the drivers. 

Q. Are engine trucks rigid or adjustable? 

A. With exception of a few designs of rigid trailers, all 



THE TRUCK. 405 

engine trucks turn about a central pivot or allow for side dis- 
placement to enable rounding sharp curves. The term engine 
truck is usually restricted to the forward truck, the rear truck 
being called trailer or trailing truck. (The British name is 
"bogie.") 

0. What is a diamond truck? 

A. A tender truck with iron side frames consisting of two 
or more arch bars, inclosing so-called diamond-shaped spaces, 
and a pedestal tie bar. The journal boxes are rigidly bolted to 
the side frames. The cross members of the truck, bolster, 
spring blank, etc., are either of wood or metal or of both com- 
bined. Metal transoms, bolsters, and spring blanks are in 
general use and increasing in favor. 

Q. What is the center pin? 

A. A large bolt or pivot passing through the center casting 
of an engine truck, or the center plates of the body and truck 
bolsters of a tender. There is usually a washer below, where- 
the head bears on the center plate. With engine trucks, a key 
is commonly put through the lower end to keep the engine 
from leaving the truck when on a bad track or in case of 
derailment. 

On two- wheel (Bissell, pony) leading trucks, as on the 
Mogul and consolidation types, the term is applied to the cylin- 
drical casting between the center truck casting and the coil 
spring directly over it. This is held in place by a long, heavy 
kingbolt, passing through the top of the spring cap at its upper 
end, and holding the outer end of the truck equalizer at its 
lower end. The center pin fits loosely in a shallow cylindrical 
casting (the center-pin guide) bolted to transverse braces. 

With four-wheel trucks, the casting bolted to the cylinder 
saddle bottom and fitting in the center plate or casting is called 
a center pin. 

0. Hozi' is the center plate fastened to the truck? 



406 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. Sometimes it is bolted thereto ; sometimes it is hung by 
swing links, permitting it to vibrate crosswise of the track. 

Q. What keeps the engine from being jolted off the center 
pin in case of a very rough track or a derailment? 

A. A key passing through the pin. 

Q. Hozv is a two-wheel truck {pony truck or Bissell truck) 
made? 

A. There is a rectangular frame having below it jaws in 
which the axle boxes play, as in the four-wheeled truck. Bolted 
to the back of this is a V-shaped frame, the point of which has 
a center pin passing into the main frame, and about which the 
truck may swing. There are usually swing bolsters, as on 
some four-wheeled trucks. Sometimes the pony truck is 
equalized with the driving axles to make safer running on 
curves at high speeds ; as by having a central equalizing lever, 
i 




Fig. 271. Pony Truck. 



Fig. 272. Pony Truck. 



the front end of which bears in an eye in the lower end of the 
center pin, the center of which is fulcrumed in a horizontal pin 
attached to the main frame, and the rear borne by a cross-bar 
suspended from the front ends of the front driving-axle 
springs. This rig gives the truck a share of any excessive 
downward thrust or weight that is put over the driving wheels, 
and vice versa. (See Figs. 271 and 2J2.) 



THE TRUCK. 



407 



0. What is the advantage of the pony truck over one With 
four wheels? 

A. It lets the front drivers come closer to the cylinders ; thus 
permitting more drivers to be used, or, other things being 
equal, giving the drivers more weight (hence more tractive 
power) for the same cylinder power. 

0. Of what are truck wheels usually made? 

A. Of cast iron in a single piece, often in practically the 
same manner as ordinary cast-iron car wheels ; their treads be- 
ing chilled. Sometimes, cast-iron centers are used and given 





Figs. 273 and 274. Driving and Truck Journal-boxes. 
1. Box. 2. Cellar. 3. Brass. 4. Cellar-bolt. 



wrought-iron or steel tires, as driving wheels are made ; some- 
times again there are two webs or wrought-iron plates between 
hub and rim, the space between them being filled with com- 
pressed paper. 

Q. Which is better for high-speed passenger service — a four 
wheel or a pony truck? • 

A. A four-wheel truck, if the weight can be spared from the 
driving wheels, which is not always the case. 

Q. What character of bearings and journal boxes have the 
truck axles? 



408 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. About the same as those of the drivers, but they are 
smaller. 

Q. What keeps the trucks from getting across the track in 
case of derailment? 

A. Check chains or safety chains. 

Q. What class of running gear is required under boilers such 
as are shown in Fig. 275? 

A. With trailing wheels to support the great weight of the 
overhang. 

Q. What were among the first engines with such supporting 
trailing wheels? 

A. Those like the Philadelphia and Reading road's No. 378, 
with single pair of drivers, four-wheeled front and two-wheeled 
rear truck ; running between Philadelphia and Jersey City, 90 
miles, in 108 to 113 minutes, with three or four stops be- 
tween. 

Q. What is the first development of this type of running 
gear? 

A. The "Atlantic" type, as on the C, M. and St. P. Ry.'s 
No. 919, with two pairs of 84-inch drivers coupled, a four- 
wheeled truck front and pony trailers (engines 15 inches and 
25 inches by 28 inches). 

Q. How is this type further developed? 

A. In the "Prairie" types, as on the C, B. and Q. Ry. (No. 
687, for example) with six coupled 64-inch drivers, a two- 
wheeled front and a two-wheeled rear truck; and the A., T. 
and S. F. Railway (No. 1,000) 17 inches and 28 inches by 28 
inches; further, in the "Mikado" type, such as the B. W. and 
G. F.'s "Great Falls" engine, eight coupled wheels (50 inches 
outside) a two-wheeled front and a two-wheeled rear truck; 
cylinders 14 inches, and 24 inches by 26 inches. 

Q. What are the methods of providing for sidewise motion 
of the trailers? 



THE TRUCK. 



409 




410 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. Where the trailers are rigidly held between the frames 
as in the Atlantic type, extra play is allowed between the 
flanges and the rail or making the front drivers "blind." An- 
other way is to swivel the axle radially. 

Q. Describe a radial swing trailer truck? 
A. The axle boxes are held in a cradle supported at the four 
upper corners by pivoted links extending downward and having 
their lower ends secured at each side to a yoke extending either 




Fig. 277. Radial Swing Trailer Truck. 

over or under the cradle ends. The yoke can move vertically, 
but is held sidewise rigid with the frame. The links allow the 
wheels, boxes, and axles free sidewise movement. The yoke 
may be connected by springs with the frame or equalized with 
the driving springs. A radius bar pivoted to a cross piece on 
the frame gives the required curved motion. On a curve the 
cradle links raise the suspension point, insuring centrality on 
a straight track. 

Q. Describe the boltless cast-steel freight trucks in use on 
the Plant system ? 

A. Referring to the illustration, Fig. 278, the side frame, of 
cast steel, is formed in one piece; journal box jaws are hori- 



THE TRUCK, 



411 




be 



ft 






412 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

zontal, and the boxes are retained by heavy wrought iron, 
semi-circular keys, as shown. Provision has been made for 
using standard M. C. B. journal boxes, although this is not 
shown on the drawing. On the earlier design of trucks a one- 
piece cast-steel spring plank was used, but it was found ad- 
visable, both because of the reduced weight and the greater 
flexibility, to use two 5 X 3 X H i ncn 9.8-pound angles, with 
the shorter legs up. The longer or horizontal leg has 4^ 
inches from each end a 1^8 -inch hole which fits over bosses on 
the lower side frame bars. The spring seat is of cast steel, 
slipped in place from the inside of the frame, and rests on 
the two spring plank angles, fitting between the vertical legs 
and having on the outer side a lip which extends down over 
the ends of the angles and comes flush with the lower bar of 
the side frame. The spring seat (shown in detail) from which 
the brake hangers are suspended, is rigidly secured to the side 
frame by two wrought iron keys driven between it and the 
sides of the 'columns. The lower part of this casting, which 
fits between the spring plank angles, extends inward from the 
side frame almost 14 inches, stiffening the connection of the 
angles to the side frame and keeping the side frames in align- 
ment. The angles are, however, sufficiently flexible to insure 
freedom from derailment or injurious strains due to undulating 
track or poor roadbed. No bolts are used in the construction 
of the truck and all keys are cottered. 

COUNTERBALANCE. 

Q. Iii a two-cylinder locomotive at high speed, what is the 
tendency of the heavy end of each connecting rod as it ro- 
tates? 

A. To raise the entire engine on that side w T hen the rod 
goes up, and to hammer the track as it goes down ; one side 
lifting the engine and the other hammering the track, at the 
same time ; thus also causing a "wee-wawing" or swinging of 
the entire engine from side to side of the track. 



COUNTERBALANCE. 413 

Q. Hozc is this counteracted? 

A. It cannot be entirely counteracted on a two-cylinder en- 
gine; but the moving weight of the connecting rod may be 
partly counterbalanced so as to lessen the hammer blow on 
the track, while increasing the tendency to jerk the train back 
and forth. 

Q. Where are the counterbalance weights placed? 
A. In the driving wheels, opposite each crank pin. 

Q. How much counterbalance weight should be thus placed 
opposite each crank pin? 

A. Such a weight as, multiplied by the distance of its center 
of gravity from the axle center, will equal the weight at the 
crank pin multiplied by half the piston stroke. 

Q. Can the lack of balance in the reciprocating parts be 
counteracted by giving either lead or compression? 

A. No ; nothing but weight will remedy it even in part ; 
and the only way by which weight may be made to do it 
effectually is to have for each crank pin another one connected 
to rods and parts of equal weight, going in exactly the oppo- 
site direction; so that for every pound that goes up there will 
be another pound coming down at the same time and speed ; 
and for every pound going forward there shall be another 
coming back at the same time and speed. 

Q. Suppose that you have a segment-shaped counterweight ; 
hozc can its center of gravity be found? 

A. By cutting out a wood or cardboard templet of even 
thickness, of the same size and shape as the weight, and sus- 
pending it from several points in its surface, near its rim, by 
a bradawl thrust through it at right angles to its face; drop- 
ping plumb-lines from this awl in the several positions, and 
marking where they cross the templet face. Where two of 
these lines intersect will be the center of gravity of the templet, 



414 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

and should be that of the piece of regular thickness which it 
was made to match. 

Q. Where there are two segment-shaped counterweights 
separated by a spoke, will their common center of gravity be 
at the same distance from the axle center as that of either one 
of them? 

A. No ; it will be nearer the axle. 

Q. How can it be determined just how much nearer? 

A. By laying down the segments in full size and proper 
position in a drawing, and connecting the two centers of 
gravity by a chord at right angles to the radius or spoke. 
Where this cuts the center line of the spoke will be the com- 
mon center of gravity of the two segments. 

Q. Suppose that there are three segment-shaped counter- 
weights of the same size, shape, and weight, separated by 
spokes ; how can their common center of gravity be found? 

A. By laying them down as directed for two segments, con- 
necting the centers of gravity of the two outside ones by a 
chord at right angles to the spoke radius, and stepping off 
from this chord, toward the center of gravity of the middle 
weight, one-third the distance between the chord and that 
weight. The point thus found will be the common center of 
gravity of the three counterweights. 

Q. Is the counterbalance always of iron? 
A. No ; some builders put in lead counterbalancing for heavy 
engines. 

Q. Are all engines counterbalanced? 

A. No; some which have long wheel base and four cylin- 
ders are left without counterbalance. 

Q. Hozv is the weight for driving-wheel counterbalance, 
where there are no side rods, calculated? 

A, Weigh (i) piston and rod, (2) cross-head and wrist 



COUNTERBALANCE. 415 

pill. (3) small end of connecting rod; take 2 3 of their sum. 

Thus : 

Pounds. 

Piston head and rod 300 

Crosshead and pin 150 

Small end of connecting rod 175 

625 

2/3 of 625 == say 417 

This is the approximate weight to be hung to each crank pin. 
This being done, the wheel pair is to be placed with axle in a 
level position and journals resting on smooth flat level strips. 
If with the calculated weights hung to the pins the wheels 
hold equally well any crank position given them, the "standing 
balance" is right ; if not, the weights can be decreased or in- 
creased until the desired weight is attained. 

Q. How do you get the weight of the small cud of the rod: 9 
A. By slinging it in a level position, by rope passed through 

the pin holes, the big end being hung to a fixed point, and the 

small end to a steelyard. 

0. If the tires are already on, where will the point of sus- 
pension be? 

A. Outside the tire. 

0. What is the rule for back zcheels? 

A. The same as for main drivers, omitting to use the weight 
of the back end of the main rod. 

Q. In the case of a consolidated engine? 

A. Weigh (1) the big end of the main rod, (2) each end 
of each coupling rod as explained for the main rod. Divide 
2/^ the sum of the weights as mentioned in the foregoing 
answer for single driver engines by the number of drivers on 



416 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

one side; to this quotient add, for each wheel, the weight of the 
side rod or side rods connected thereto. Thus : 

Pounds. 

Piston head and rod 500 

Crosshead and wrist pin 200 

Small end of main rod 200 

900 

2/3 of 900 — 600 

600-^-4= 150 pounds per wheel; call this A. 

Side rod 90 + A = 150 = 240 

Side rod 225 + ^ = 150=., 375 

Side rod 250 + big end of main rod ) 

450 + ^ = 150= \ 5 ° 

Side rod 95 + A = 150=. . , 245 



CHAPTER IV. 
POWER BRAKES. 

Q. How may the speed of an engine or of an engine-drazvn 

train be checked? 

A. By shutting off steam and by the application of brake 

shoes to the wheel treads. 

Q. How do the usual brakes lessen the train speed? 

A. By increasing the friction so that the momentum of the 

train is checked. 

Q. With proper application of the brakes, zvhat should 
receive the wear? 

A. The wheel treads should get some, but these being of 
steel or chilled iron, the brake shoes get most of it; which 
is right, as they are the cheaper to renew, and outside of the 
question of cost their wear is of less consequence. 

Q. Are the brake shoes always applied to the wheel treads? 

A. Usually ; but experiments have been made to apply them 
to iron drums borne on the axles, and the wear of which 
would be of less consequence than that of the wheel treads. 

Q. What would be the proper place to apply the brakes? 

A. To the rails, thus making friction between the train as 
the moving member of a pair, and the track as the stationary 
member, and doing away with the possibility of flatting the 
wheels.* 

Q. What is the principal difficulty in this? ' 

A. The uneven character of the rails, particularly at the 
Joints. 

* This was first suggested to the writer by the late John C. Traut- 
wine, in his time the most eminent of American civil engineers, and 
received the endorsement of many prominent in practical matters. It 
has been put into practice by the builders of electrical locomotives. 



418 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of hand brakes? 

A. Their application is slow, even after once commenced; 
the pressure obtainable is not so powerful; time is lost when 
commencing to apply them ; a system of such brakes cannot be 
automatic — that is, will not brake the train in case it parts ; 
nor can they be made continuous throughout the train ; also, 
they heat the wheels unevenly and cause their breakage. 

Q. What are the principal classes of power brakes? 
A. Those operating by ^compressed air, and those operating 
by vacuum. 

Q. Into what classes are compressed-air brakes divided? 
A. Into those using "straight air" and those using auto- 
matic brakes. 

Q. What is a straight-air brake? 

A. One in which the brakes are applied by pressure from 
a cylinder and piston under each car, the motive fluid being 
compressed air in a reservoir under the engine or tender, and 
having a valve controlling the flow of air to the train pipe. 

Q. What were the working parts of the straight-air brake 
on the engine? 

A. An air pump to compress the air, a main reservoir to 
contain it, and a three-way cock or engineer's valve. 

Q. What parts on each car? 

A. Its portion of the continuous train pipe, and a brake 
cylinder with its piston. 

Q. How were straight-air brakes applied? 

A. The three-way cock was placed in such position that the 
main reservoir pressure flowed into the train pipe, forcing out 
all the pistons in the various brake cylinders under the cars. 

Q. What are the disadvantages of this class of brake? 

A. In a long train it takes too much time for the air to flow 
from the engine or tender reservoir to the rear cars ; and in 
case the train parts, only the front portion, which least needs 



POWER BRAKES. 419 

control, may be checked by the brake ; the rear part being left 
free, which might lead to danger, as on an up grade, where 
there would be nothing to prevent its running down. 

0. What would be the effect of applying the brake first at 
the head of the train? 

A. The slack would run into the head end. 

0. What was the effect of a burst hose with this brake. 7 

A. To throw the brake out of service. 

0. What were the special disadvantages of this brake for 
long trains? 

A. The train pipe was of so large volume in comparison 
with the reservoir, that the pressure would be lowered, and it 
would be necessary to pump up while setting the brakes. 

Q. What zvas the effect of air friction in the train pipe in a 
long train? 

A. To reduce the speed with which the air was applied, and 
the pressure obtained on the rear cars. 

Q. How does the Westinghouse automatic brake work? * 

A. There is on the engine or tender a reservoir containing 
compressed air ; and under each car in the train a triple valve, 
auxiliary reservoir, a cylinder and piston operating the brake 
levers, as with the straight-air brake. The air pump discharges 
into the main reservoir ; in connection with this is the engine- 
man's brake valve, with which is connected the brake pipe, 
which with its continuations, extends back under the train, 
communicating with the auxiliary reservoirs through the 
triples. In charging the brakes the main reservoir is filled 
with compressed air; then the engineman's valve is opened 
to let air through the brake pipe and triple valves and into 
the auxiliary reservoirs. The triple valves close communica- 
tion between the auxiliary reservoirs and the brake cylinders, 
as long as there is pressure in the brake pipe ; but when this 

* All descriptions of automatic brakes in this work refer to the 
Westinghouse types as ap'plied in American railway practice. 



420 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

pressure is lowered, as by the breakage of the train, or pur- 
posely done by the engine runner, they open and let air from 
the auxiliary reservoirs to the brake cylinders, thus applying 
the brakes. The enginemairs valve permits letting air out of 
the brake pipe at will, and thus applying the brakes when 
desired. 

Q. How many kinds of automatic brakes are there? 

A. The plain automatic, the quick-action, the high-speed. 

Q. Is the plain automatic brake now used? 

A. No. 

Q. Is the quick-action style used? 

A. Yes, for ordinary passenger and freight cars. 

Q. For what service is the high-speed brake used? 

A. For high-speed passenger mail and express trains. 

Q. What is the difference between the straight-air and the 
automatic brake? 

A. Under each car there is, with an automatic brake, a plain 
triple valve and an auxiliary reservoir. 

Q. What was the advantage of the extra reservoir? 

A. To furnish air for use only in the brake cylinder of the 
car upon which it is placed. 

Q. What zvas the advantage of the "plain" triple valve? ,' 

A. It would automatically set the brakes in case of a burst 
brake hose or a broken train. 

Q. Where zvas the plain triple placed? 

A. At the junction of the train pipe, the auxiliary reservoir, 
and the brake cylinder. 

Q.-What is the effect, on the plain triple valve, of a leak in 
the auxiliary reservoir? 

A. To lower the pressure on one side of the triple piston, 
and thus let off the brake in question. 

Q. What special modifications have been made in the general 
equipment of the quick-action brake, for freight service? 



POWER BRAKES. 421 

A. On the car there has been added a "retaining valve'' ; 
on the engine there is a high-pressure controlling apparatus, 
duplex main reservoir regulation, and combined automatic and 
straight-air system. 

0. How can the automatic brakes be released after they 
have been af plied? 

A. By so turning the engineman's valve as to close the 
opening by which air may escape from the brake pipe, and let 
air flow from the main reservoir to the brake pipe, this latter 
moves the triple valves so as to let the air out of the cylinders 
and release the brakes. 

Q. Can a continuous brake system work with some of the 
cars straight-air and the rest automatic? 

A. No ; it must be either one thing or the other. 

Q. Hozv can the brake on any one car be thrown out of 
service without affecting those on cars before and back of it? 
A. By closing the cut-out cock. 

Q. What use has the four-way cock in the old plain triple? 

A. To enable the brakes to be used as straight air; its 
handle being turned into another position than that required 
to throw the brakes out of service, and leaving a communi- 
cation from the main brake pipe to the brake cylinder, so 
that the brakes may be applied by letting air into the main 
brake pipe and not having any in it when the brakes are to 
be off. 

THE "QUICK-ACTION" BRAKE- 

Q. What are the essential parts of the Westinghouse "quick- 
action" automatic brake? 

A. Referring to Plate III : The air pump, main reservoir, 
engineman's brake valve, air gage, pump governor, train pipe, 
auxiliary reservoir on the various cars, brake cylinder, quick- 
action triple valve, hose couplings, pressure-retaining valve, 
and automatic slack adjuster. 



422 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

THE AIR PUMP. 

Q. What is the use of the air pump? 
A. To supply compressed air. 

Q. How is it driven? 
A. By steam. 

Q. Where is the air pump for working the air brake? 
A. On the side of the fire-box, or on the side of the boiler 
a little in advance of the fire-box. 

Q. Can the "quick-action" automatic brake be used in con- 
nection with the plain automatic form? 
A. Yes. 

Q. Can it be used as a non-automatic or "straight-air" 
brake? 
A. No. 

Q. Describe the valve-motion of the ,gj4-inch improved air 
pump of the Westinghouse automatic brake? 

A. Referring to Figs. 280 and 281 : the valve motion consists 
of two pistons, yy, 79, of unequal diameter, on common rod, 76, 
and having between them a D valve 83, to distribute steam to 
the upper or to the lower side of the main steam piston 65, as 
required. Steam enters the pump at X (where a stud and 
nut admit of direct attachment of the pump governor) and by 
passages a and a 1 and port a 2 is admitted to the slide-valve 
chamber between the two pistons yy and 79. As the piston 
yy is larger than 79, the action is to force the two to the right 
as shown in Fig. 280, thus letting steam under the main piston 
65 through the port b to the passages b 1 and b 2 , forcing the 
main piston upward. The steam that has forced the main 
piston downwards is exhausted to the atmosphere through the 
passage c, port c 1 , and cavity B to the slide valve 83, port d 
and passages d 1 and d 2 at the connection F, whence it is taken 
by a suitable pipe to the smoke box. 



AIR PUMP. 



423 




Fig. 280. Nine and One-Half-Inch Air Pump. 



424 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 







Fig. 281. Nine and One-Half-Inch Air Pump. 



AIR PUMP. 425 

Q. What is the arrangement of the main-valve bushing of 
this pump? 

A. This is shown in Fig. 281, port t communicating between 
the chamber E in the main-valve head 85 and exhaust passage 
f 1 , and hence being in constant connection with the atmosphere, 
taking the pressure off that surface of the main-valve piston 
79, which is exposed to the chamber E. The reversing valve 
J2 works in the chamber C in the center of the steam-cylinder 
head, taking steam from the slide-valve chamber A through 
the ports e and e 1 ; this valve being moved by a rod 71 extend- 
ing into the space k of the hollow piston rod. This valve is 
to admit steam to and exhaust it from the space D between the 
main-valve piston yy and the head 84. It is shown in Fig. 280 
in position to exhaust the steam before used, from the space D 
through the port h (Figs. 280 and 281), port ft 1 , reversing 
valve cavity H, and ports / and f 1 , to the main exhaust ports 
d, d 1 , and d 2 . 

Q. What is the effect when the main piston approaching the 
upward termination of its stroke, strikes the shoulder j of the 
reversing-valve rod y\, and forces this rod and its valve J2 
upwards? 

A. Steam is let in from chamber C to chamber D through 
the ports g and g 1 (Fig. 281), thus balancing the pressure on 
both sides of the main-valve piston yy, when the steam in 
chamber A acting on the effective area presented to it, of the 
main-valve piston 79, forces it to the left, and lets live steam 
to the upper side of the main steam piston 65, exhausting from 
the piston rod side, and forcing it downwards, until at the lower 
end of its stroke the button head on the lower end of the revers- 
ing-valve stem yi comes in contact with the reversing-valve 
plate 69, again moving the reversing-valve y2 to the position 
shown in Fig. 281, thus completing a full double stroke. 

Q. What happens in the air cylinder as the steam and air 
pistons are making their strokes ? 



426 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. Air from outside is drawn into first one end and then 
the other of the air cylinder 63, through the screened inlet 
106 at W, chamber F, and the receiving valves 86 to the left 
(Fig. 280), and thence discharged under pressure through the 
discharge valves 86 to the right (Fig. 280), to the chamber G 
and the main reservoir to which the pump should be connected 
by a 1^4 -inch pipe at Z. 

Q. What about the use of oil with this pump {and with the 
eleven-inch pump)? 

A. Only a moderate quantity of valve oil should be used in 
the steam and air-cylinders. 

Q. How is drainage effected? 

A. By the cocks 105, in the steam passages a and b 2 . 

Q. What class of oil should be used in the pump air cyl- 
inder? 

A. A good valve or cylinder oil. 

Q. What classes of lubricant should not be used therein? 
A. Tallow, lard, kerosene, or engine oil. 

THE MAIN RESERVOIR. 

Q. What other use has the main reservoir than to store com- 
pressed air? 

A. To collect dirt, oil, and moisture from the pump, and 
so keep it out of the train pipe, the triples, etc. The larger 
it is, the slower the latter need work and the less pressure 
need be kept on, hence less heating of the pump and burning 
of its packing. 

Q. What should its capacity be? 

A. From 40,000 cubic inches = 11.57 cubic feet on passen- 
gers up to 50,000 to 70,000 cubic inches = 23.1 cubic feet on 
heavy freights. 

Q. What of putting it back on the tender? 



MAIN RESERVOIR. 427 

A. That insures capacity, but necessitates two extra hose 
lines that form water and oil pockets. 

Q. Where is the best place? 

A. Under the running boards. 

Q. What about draining it? 

A. It should be bled after each trip, and the bleeders kept 
open between trips. 

Q. Is it necessary to carry as many pounds excess pressure 
with a large main reservoir as with a small one? If__ so, zuliy? 

A. No; because the air volume in a large main reservoir 
will equalize with the train pipe and raise it to a higher press- 
ure than a small air volume. To make the small reservoir as 
effective to release the brake as the larger one we add to the 
pressure of the small one ; for instance, we take a main "reser- 
voir of 10,000 cubic inches ; with 90 pounds pressure it will 
expand into a train pipe of the same volume and equalize at 
half the pressure, or 45 pounds. If the main reservoir has 
20,000 cubic inches capacity, it will expand into the train pipe 
and equalize at about 60 pounds, so that about 67 pounds in 
the large reservoir is as effective in this case as 90 pounds in 
the small one. Increased excess pressure adds to the effective 
"size" of the main reservoir; the brake can be released with 
more certainty and speed. 

engineman's brake valve. 

Q. What is the purpose of the engineman's brake valve? 

A. To regulate the air flow from the main reservoir into 
the train pipe for charging and releasing the brakes, and from 
the train pipe into the atmosphere for putting on brakes. 

Q. What are the different positions of the brake-valve 
handle? 

A. (1) Release, (2) running, (3) lap, (4) service applica- 
tion, and (5) emergency application; counting from the left 
as the engineman faces the valve. 



428 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. What is the purpose of the "release" position?* 
A. To let the air rapidly from the main reservoir to the train 
pipe, so as to quickly release and recharge the brakes. 




Fig. 282. Engineer's Brake Valve, " G-6," Release Position. 

Q. What are the positions of the working parts at 
"release"? 

A. As the pipe from the main reservoir is connected at X 
(Fig. 282), main reservoir air passes through A, A to the 
chamber above the rotary valve 14, through this and the pass- 
age / 1 1 to the train pipe at Y. Port g being exposed to cavity c 

* The questions and answers on the engineman's brake valve refer 
to the types D 5, E 6, F 6 and G 6, except that on the G 6 type the slide 
valve supplants the former feed attachment. 



G-6 BRAKE VALVE. 



429 



lets air into chamber D above the equalizer piston 18. Rotary 
valve j registers with e and lets air into chamber D ; so that 
in this position the equalizing reservoir is fed from two ports 
and the train pipe from one. 

Q. What is the purpose of the equalizing reservoir? 

A. To increase the area of the chamber D. 

Q. What is the "warning port".? 

A. This port (shown in dotted lines at r) lets air into the 
atmosphere with considerable noise in case the engineman for- 
gets and leaves the valve in release position. 

Q. What would happen if he kept the valve at "release"? 

A. There would accumulate a 90-pound pressure in the main 
and equalizing reservoirs, the auxiliary reservoirs and train 
pipe. 

Q. When the train pipe and the auxiliary reservoirs of the 
brake apparatus are charged, what is done? 



'3 




id , 


W 


Iff a 


Q- \ 


z 


rr\ I 


S < 


ec\ » 


E 1 


° \ S 


> 


a v« 


88 


$ \ 


1 a 


rt* ^ 


2 




3 


z 


a. 


< ~, 1 


■2 


*/A 


.- "l_ Position. 


/In rri 




Fig. 2S3. Engineer's Brake Valve, " G-6," Plan View. 



430 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. The handle 8 of the brake valve is moved to 2, Figs. 
283 and 284, "position while running." 

Q. Describe the purpose of the "running" position of the. 
cnginemans brake valve? 

A. Main-reservoir air goes from the chamber above the 
valve 14 through port / and passages /, f 1 into chamber F ; 




Fig. 284. Engineer's Brake Valve, " G-6," Running Position. 

thence through the feed valve and passages i, I, I 1 , Fig. 283, 
into the train pipe at Y. Port g still connects D with c, and as 
this last overlaps /, the equalizing reservoir is in connection 
with the train pipe. 

Q. When does the feed valve cut off air from the train 
pipe? 



G-6 BRAKE VALVE. 431 

A. At 70 pounds. 

Q. Does the pump then stop? 

A. No ; it stops when 90 pounds in the main reservoir. 

Q. What is the "lap" or middle position? 
A. One with all ports closed. 

Q. What would be the result of starting the pump when the 
enginemans brake valve was in lap position? 

A. To put 90 pounds in the main reservoir, while the train 
pipe remained empty. 

Q. Describe the "service application" position? 

A. A groove in the lower face of the rotary valve 14 con- 
nects port e with groove h, and lets air from D and the equal- 
izing reservoir, through k, into the atmosphere, thus reducing 
the pressure above piston 18. This lets the pressure below 18 
force it up, and unseats the attached discharge valve, so that 
train pipe air discharges through m, n, m 1 into the atmosphere. 
The desired pressure reduction in D being attained, the valve 
handle is put back to "lap." 

Q. What occurs after putting the valve in "lap" position? 

A. Air still discharges from 22 until the train-pipe pressure 
is a little less than that in D and the equalizing reservoir ; 
then piston 18 automatically seats the discharge valve. 

Q. How much reduction in train pipe pressure is usually 
enough for an initial brake application? 
A. 5 to 8 pounds. 

Q. What is the emergency position? 

A. That in which (Fig. 283) the "direct application and 
exhaust port" k and the "direct application and supply port" / 
are connected by a large cavity c in rotary valve 14, permitting 
very rapid train-pipe discharge. 

Q. How much should the train-pipe pressure be reduced for 
an emergency stop? 



432 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. A very sudden reduction in. the emergency position of 
the brake-valve should be made. 

Q. Hozv are the brakes released? 

A. By moving the valve handle 8 to "Position for Releas- 
ing Brake/' causing air from the main reservoir to flow freely 
again to the train pipe, forcing the triple valve to "released" 
position and exhausting the air used in applying the brakes, 
and recharging the auxiliary reservoirs. When the valve 
handle is in this position, .a small "warning port" discharges 
air from the main reservoir to the outer air with considerable 
noise, thus attracting the attention of the engineman to his 
neglect to move the valve handle to the "running" position. 

Q. When must the engineman move the brake-valve handle 
from position i to position 2? 

A. Before the accumulation of the maximum pressure of 70 
pounds allowed in the train pipe, so that the feed-valve attach- 
ment may properly do its duty of governing the train-pipe 
pressure; else the pressure in the train pipe may be rendered 
excessive. 

THE SLIDE-VALVE FEED VALVE. 

Q. Describe the slide-valve feed valve? 

A. Referring to Figs. 285 and 286: this valve is used with 
either the D 5, E 6, F6, or G 6 brake valve to keep up desired 
train-pipe pressure while the brake handle stands at "run- 
ning." 

Fig. 285 is a central section through the supply-valve case 
and governing device; Fig. 286 one through the regulating 
valve and spring box and a cross section through the supply- 
valve case. Ports f 1 and i register with brake-valve ports 
(similarly lettered in Fig. 284), and in the running position 
main reservoir pressure can reach F through / and f 1 . Cham- 
ber E (separated by piston 54 from chamber F) is connected 
with the train pipe by passage i, c, c, port a (controlled by the 
regulating valve 59) and chamber G over diaphragm 57. Valve 



G-6 FEED VALVE. 



433 



59 is normally held open by diaphragm 57 and regulating 
spring 67, then chamber E communicates with the train pipe. 
With the brake valve at "running," main reservoir pressure 
from F forces piston 54 and supply valve 55 forward, and 




Fig- 2S5. Slide- Valve Feed Valve. 

uncovering port b enters the train pipe through i i. When the 
train-pipe pressure reaches 70 pounds, diaphragm 57 allows 
regulating valve 59 to seat, closing a and cutting communica- 
tion between E and the train pipe. Pressures in E and F 
equalizing (through leakage past supply-valve piston 54) 



434 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



spring 58 reacts and seats valve 55, closing b and cutting train 
pipe off from the main reservoir. Further reduction of train- 
pipe pressure reduces the pressure in G, opens regulating valve 




Fig. 286. Slide-Valve Feed Valve. 



59 and lets E discharge into the train pipe. The supply-valve 
piston 54 being thus unbalanced the main reservoir pressure in 
F forces it and supply valve 55 forward and recharges the 
train pipe through b. 



PUMP GOVERNOR. 435 

AIR-PUMP GOVERNOR. 

Q. Where is the air-pump governor placed? 
A. As seen in Plate III. 

Q. How is the adjustment of the governor changed? 
A. Referring to Fig. 287, by the adjusting nut 40 regulating 
the tension of spring 41 on diaphragm 42. 

Q. How does it act? 

A. Where the spring tension can restrain the air pressure 
in the chamber a it holds the small pin valve closed; when 
the chamber pressure lifts this valve, air passes into the cham- 
ber above the piston 28 and forces down the latter, thus seat- 
ing the steam valve and stopping the pump. When the air 
pressure runs down, the reverse operations take place. 
Further; when the pin valve is unseated there is an air leak 
through the relief port c, and a steam leak through 26, keeping 
the pump slowly running as a guard against condensation. 
The short drip-pipe 35 lets any steam that may leak past the 
stem of valve 26, or any air that may leak past piston 28, 
reach the atmosphere. 

Q. What does the pump governor do? 

A. Regulates the steam supply to the air pump, stopping it 
when the desired air pressure has been attained. 

Q. Does the pump governor control the train-pipe press- 
ure? 

A. No ; only that in the main reservoir. 

Q. Is it necessary to have in the main reservoir the excess 
of 20 pounds or more, before air can be supplied to the train 
pipe to make up for leakages when the handle of the valve is 
in running position? 

A. All that the pump governor does is -to regulate the 
maximum pressure in the main reservoir; the amount being 
regulated by the governor spring. 



436 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 




Fig. 287. Improved Pump Governor. 



PISTON TRAVEL: 437 

TRAIN PIPE. 

Q. What is the train pipe? 

A. A line (including flexible hose and their couplings, be- 
tween cars) connecting the engineman's brake valve with each 
triple valve in the train. 

Q. How may leaks in the joints of the air pipes and fittings 
be discovered? 

A. By applying soap suds, which will show bubbles where 
there is a leak. 

AUXILIARY RESERVOIR. 

Q. What is the use of the auxiliary reservoir on each car? 
A. To store, for use on that car, air received from the main 
reservoir through the train pipe and triple valve. 

THE BRAKE CYLINDER. 

Q. What is the function of the brake cylinder? 

A. To press its piston and rod against the brake levers when 
the piston is forced outwards by air pressure, and put on the 
brakes. 

Q. What are the limits of travel of brake-cylinder pistons? 

A. They should not travel more than eight inches nor less 
than five. 

Q. Of what is a greater travel than eight inches a sign? 

A. Of weak brake gear, worn shoes, or undue lost motion. 

Q. What is the effect of not taking up the slack in the brake 
gear? 

A. It takes more time to stop. 

Q. What is standing travel? 

A. The stroke of the piston in braking when the car is 
at rest. 

Q. What is running travel? 

A. The piston stroke in braking a running car; being 
greater than standing travel, by reason of lost motion. 



438 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What is false travel? 

A. Temporary excessive travel while running, due to uneven 
track, etc. 

Q. What of the brake-cylinder pressure with long and with 
short travel? 

A. With short travel it is greater; it is in inverse propor- 
tion to the travel. 

Q. What of uniformity of travel? 

A. All pistons in the train should have the travel within 
certain fixed limits, to lessen the trouble from flat wheels and 
to make braking smoother. 

QUICK-ACTION TRIPLE VALVE. 

Q. What are the connections of the quick-action triple 
valve? 

A. There is one on each car, in connection with the train 
pipe, auxiliary reservoir, brake cylinder, and pressure-retaining 
valve. 

Q. What are its functions? 

A. To control the flow of air between the train pipe and 
auxiliary reservoir, between the auxiliary reservoir and cylin- 
der, and between the cylinder and atmosphere. 

Q. What are its principal parts? 

A. As shown in Plate II, the body 2, slide valve 3, main 
piston 4, graduating valve 7, emergency piston 8, valve 10, 
check valve 15. 

Q. What is the use of the piston 4? 

A. To open and close the feed groove i and control the slide 
and graduating valves. 

Q. What charges the auxiliary? 

A. The train-pipe pressure. 

Q. In lap position, what is the condition of the brake? 

A. Partly set. 



TRIPLE VALVE. 



439 



Q. How is full setting accomplished? 
A. By further reducing the train-pipe pressure. 
Q. Once the brakes are full set, would they be applied any 
harder by letting all the air out of the train pipe? 
A. No ; it would be simply wasting compressed air. 
Q. How is the brake thrown off? 




Fig. 293. Old Style Plain Triple Valve, Release Position. 

A. By increasing the train-pipe pressure to a point above 
that in the auxiliary reservoir. 

Q. What is the difference between "service" and "emer- 
gency" applications? 

A. In the former the brakes are set slowly; in the latter,, 
rapidly. 



440 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. In service application, what is the difference between the 
action of a plain and the quick-action triple? 

A. No difference. 

Q. Describe the action in an emergency stop zvith a quick- 
action triple? 

A. Referring to Fig. 291, Plate II, the triple piston makes 



1/2 PIPE TAP 
^OayXIHARV RESERVGI 




</2 PIPE TAP 
TO TRAIN LIN? 



Fig. 294. New Style Plain Triple Valve, Lap Position. 



a longer and more sudden stroke, establishing connection be- 
tween the auxiliary and the brake cylinder direct ; the emerg- 
ency valve 10 opens and lets all the pressure escape from the 
cavity Y , so that the train-pipe check rises, and a part of the 
train-pipe pressure passes into the brake cylinder. 




Fig. 288. Release Position. 



Fig. 292. 



Service Application. 

QUICK-ACTION TRIPLE VALVE. 



Fig. 290. Lap'Positicm, 



Fig. 291. Emergency Application, 



TRIPLE VALVE. 441 

Q. What about releasing the brakes after an emergency? 
A. With quick-action triples they are harder to let off than 
in service applications with the same valve. 

THE GRADUATING AND SLIDE VALVES. 

Q. What does the graduating valve do? 

A. Controls the air flowing from the auxiliary reservoir 
through the slide-valve ports W , Z (Fig. 292). 

Q. W hat does the slide valve do? 

A. Controls the connections between ( 1 ) brake cylinder and 
the atmosphere, (2) auxiliary reservoir and brake cylinder, 
and (3) auxiliary reservoir and the chamber above the emer- 
gency piston 8. 

Q. What is the operation of charging? 

A. Air from the train pipe enters at A (Fig. 288, Plate I]-, 
flows through e, f, g, and ft, past the main piston and through 
the grooves i and k, and chamber m to the auxiliary reservoir, 
until the pressures equalize (usually at 70 pounds). 

Q. What is the service application? 

A. By gradual pressure reduction, say of 5 pounds at first, 
leaving only 65 on the train-pipe face of the main piston, so 
that the auxiliary reservoir pressure forces the main piston to 
the left (Fig. 289), closing groove i, shutting off the auxiliary 
reservoir, and unseating valve 7, opening passage W to Z. 
The collar on the piston stem draws the slide valve to the 
left, cutting off exhaust cavity n from passage r. The main 
piston is stopped by the graduating stem 21. Ports z and r 
then register, and auxiliary reservoir air flows through W , 
Z, and r to the brake cylinder at C. When the auxiliary reser- 
voir pressure has got down to less than 65 pounds, the train- 
pipe pressure forces the main piston back and seats the gradu- 
ating valve, as shown in Fig. 290 ("lap position"). 

To put on the brake with greater force a further train pipe 
reduction is made, and so on, until the auxiliary reservoir and 



442 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

the brake cylinder have the same pressure, after which the 
brake being fully applied, any further train-pipe reduction is 
but a waste of air. 

Q. Hozc much reduction equalizes the pressures? 

A. About 20 pounds. 

Q. How is the brake released? 

A. The engine runner lets the main-reservoir excess pressure 
into the train pipe, so that the main piston is forced to extreme 
right position, Fig. 288; air is discharged through r, n, and p 
into the atmosphere; the feed groove i being uncovered, the 
auxiliary reservoir is recharged from the train pipe. 

Q. What are the occurrences in an emergency application? 

A. Sudden train-pipe pressure reduction moves the main 
piston to the left so fast that the spring 22 gives and lets the 
piston go to the position seen in Fig. 291, where a diagonal slot 
in the slide valve (see Fig. 292) opens port t (see dotted lines 
below the letter Z) and lets air into the chamber above the 
emergency piston 8, forcing this down, unseating emergency 
valve 10, and letting the pressure in the small chamber Y above 
the check valve 15 escape into the brake cylinder. Train pipe 
air raises the check and rushes through a, Y ' , and X into the 
brake cylinder at C. Air from the auxiliary reservoir flows 
through the small port 5" and r into the brake cylinder. 

Q. What is the effect of restoring to the train pipe an excess 
of pressure over that remaining in the auxiliary reservoir? 

A. To force the triple-valve piston and the slide valve to 
their normal position, making connection between the train 
pipe and the auxiliary reservoir, and letting the air in the brake 
cylinder escape into the atmosphere, thus letting off the brakes 
and recharging the auxiliaries. 

HOSE COUPLINGS. 

Q. What do the hose couplings unite? 

A. The train-pipe sections of adjacent cars. 



PRESSURE-RETAINING VALVE. 



443 



Q. What should be done with the brake hose when un- 
coupled? 

A. It should be hung up in the "dummy," so as to keep 
cinders and other foreign matter out of it. 

PRESSURE-RETAINING VALVE. 

Q. What are the functions of the pressure-retaining valve? 
A. To keep a pressure of 15 pounds per square inch (one 




Fig. 2 95- Pressure-Retaining Valve. 

atmosphere) in the brake cylinder when the triple valve is in 
release position for recharging the auxiliary reservoir. 
0. In zchat service is this mostly used? 



444 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. On heavy freight, and on heavy grades for passenger 
work. 

Q. What determines the proportion of the brake-cylinder 
pressure that may be retained? 

A. The weight 4 shown in Fig. 295. 

Q. How is this valve operated? 

A. When the handle 5 points downward it is inoperative; 
and in releasing brakes the brake-cylinder air discharges 
through the triple valve into the retaining-valve pipe to the 
retaining valve at X and through ports a, b, c into the atmos- 
phere. With the handle horizontal as in Fig. 295 it passes 
through ports a and b only (c being closed) lifts the weight 4, 
and escapes through the port d until the brake-cylinder pressure 
is down to 15 pounds, when the valve seats; the 15 pounds 
stay in the brake cylinder until the handle 5 is turned down, 

Q. What may cause failure of the valve? 

A. A leak in the connecting pipe, especially at the union, 
or perhaps a leak in the brake cylinder or in the valve itself. 

Q. How should it set? 

A. Vertically, and free of access when train is moving, 

AUTOMATIC SLACK ADJUSTER. 

Q. What is the use of the automatic slack adjuster? 

A. To keep the piston travel in the brake cylinder constant, 
by taking up slack as the brake shoes wear. 

Q. Describe its construction and operation? 

A. Referring to Figs. 296 and 297, the brake-cylinder piston 
acts as a valve to control admission and release of brake-cylin- 
der pressure to and from pipe b through port a, which it 
uncovers when there is excessive travel, thus letting brake- 
cylinder air through b into slack-adjuster cylinder 2, where the 
small piston 19 is forced outward, compressing spring 21. 
The piston stem 23 has a pawl extending into casing 24 and 



SLACK ADJUSTER. 



445 




< 

M 

o 

f— « 
0} 



3 
*} 






446 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 




HIGH-SPEED BRAKE. 447 

engaging ratchet 27 fast on screw 4. On brake release the 
air in 2 escapes through b and a, spring 21 forces back the 
small piston; the pawl, ratchet, and screw draw r the lever 5 
slightly in, shortening the brake-piston travel and forcing the 
shoes tpw r ard the wheel treads. 

HIGH-SPEED BRAKE. 

Q. What is the Westinghouse "high-speed" brake? 

A. A modification of the "quick-action 1 ' type, through the 
addition of several extra appliances shown in Plate III, Fig. 
298, viz. : 

(1) A special driver and engine-truck brake triple valve; 
(2) a cut-out cock; (3) an automatic reducer to keep 60 
pounds in the brake cylinder; (4) a quick-action triple valve 
for the tender instead of the usual one; (5) a safety valve 
for extra cars temporarily attached to high-speed trains and 
having no automatic reducer; (6) a reversing-cock. 

Q. Hozv may the locomotive equipment shown in Plate IV 
be changed from "quick-action" to "high-speed" ? 

A. By turning the handle of the reversing cock and that 
of the cut-ofr* cock in the pipe leading to the 90-pound gover- 
nor. This changes the train pressure to no instead of 70 
pounds, and the main reservoir pressure to 120 pounds. 

AUTOMATIC REDUCING VALVE. 

Q. Describe the automatic reducing valve? 

A. It is shown in vertical cross section in Fig. 299. Fig. 300 
shows its application to a car, and Figs. 301, 302 and 303 
are vertical cross sections of the upper part, showing 
the various slide-valve positions for release, service stop, and 
emergency stop respectively. The triangular port b leads to 
the chamber d; port a to the atmosphere, through the exhaust 
opening Y , Fig. 299. Referring to the release position. Fig. 
301, the port b of slide 8 does not register with port a of 



448 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



its seat. On brake application the pressure is held in the brake 
cylinder and subsequently released in the usual way unless it 




3 1/2 PIPE TAP ^10 BRAKE CYLlNHfeS 



Fig. 299. Automatic Reducing Valve, 

can overcome the tension of spring 11 and force down pis- 
ton 4. 

In heavy service application, when brake-cylinder pressure 



HIGH-SPEED BRAKE. 



449 




o 

o 






> 

be 

.3 
*o 

P4 



3 
c 

■*-> 

<! 



bo 



450 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



exceeds 60 pounds piston 4 is moved down until ports b and a 
register (Fig. 302) when surplus brake-cylinder pressure is 




Positiok or Ports. 
Scnvice Stop. 

PRESSURE EJCOCEDlNQ 60 POUNOS 
IN BRAKE CVUNOCR. 



Fig. 301. Release. Fig. 302. Service. 

discharged; spring 11 then restores the conditions of Fig. 301 
retaining 60 pounds in the brake cylinder. 

In an emergency application (Fig. 303) the violent admission 
of air into brake cylinder forces piston 4 to lower stroke end, 




Fig. 3°3. Emergency. 

bringing apex of port b over- a, and a comparatively slow dis- 
charge takes place while the train speed is maximum ; as the 



ENGINE AND TENDER BRAKES. 451 

pressure reduces above piston 4 it permits it to rise. When 
the braking pressure is down to 60 pounds, a is closed and 
the remaining braking pressure is held until released by the 
triple valve. 

Q. What is necessary in the zvay of inspection of this 
device? 

A. It should be frequently inspected to guard against leaks 
through the discharge port. 

ENGINE AND TENDER BRAKES. 

Q. How are the locomotive and tender ordinarily braked? 

A. There are brake shoes which bear against their wheels 
and which press against them by crosswise brake beams hung 
from the frame by brake hangers, and having attached to their 
centers by pivoted fulcrums, brake levers operated by com- 
pressed air cylinders, or sometimes, in the case of the tender, 
by hand wheels. 

Q. What is the effect of driver brakes on the driving boxes? 
A. If the wedges are kept up there is no trouble. 

Q. Should the driver brake be used as an emergency brake 
only? 
A. No. 

Q. How can the plain automatic triple valve that was for- 
merly used for the locomotive driver and tender brake, Fig. 
2 93, be rendered inoperative? 

A. By turning the handle of the four- way cock downwards 
to a point midway between a horizontal and a vertical position, 
or until a lug on the handle prevents further movement. 

Q. How much travel should the pistons of driving-wheel 
brakes have? 

A. From three to five inches. 



452 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

THE VACUUM BRAKE. 

O. What is a vacuutp brake? 

A. One in which instead of operating the brake cylinders 
by- compressed air they are applied by removing the pressure 
from one side of a piston or diaphragm. 

THE SWEENY COMPRESSOR. 

Q. What is the Sweeny compressor? 

A. A device by which the main reservoir may be recharged 
in descending heavy grades, when the air pressure is low. 

Q. What are its essential parts? 

A. There is a pipe from the steam chest to the main reser- 
voir, and in this there is a cut-out cock, a safety valve, and a 
check valve. 

Q. Describe its operation? 

A. Steam being shut off from the engine, and the latter 
reversed, the cut-out cock is turned so that the main cylinders 
and pistons force air into the steam chest, through the pipe 
connections and into the main reservoir. 

Q. When does it come best into play? 

A. 'Where the pressure is very low, as on a long grade with 
a heavy train, or if the pump gives out. 

Q. What are its disadvantages? 

A. In common with many other emergency devices, it has 
faults ; for instance, smoke and hot combustion gases are 
forced into the main reservoir, and burn out gaskets and dirty 
the entire brake system ; its use has practically disappeared. 

THE STEAM OR WATER BRAKE. 

Q. Hozv did Le Chatelier propose to employ the counter- 
pressure of the steam as a brake in stopping the train? 

A. By closing the blast pipe and connecting the exhaust 
port by a branch pipe with the steam and water space of the 



WATER BRAKE. 



453 



boiler, so that small controlable quantities of steam and water, 
instead of air, smoke, and cinders, enter the cylinders while 
the pistons are in motion. 

Q. What is the object of admitting water? 



to operate exhaust lid 




Rod to cab, to operate _ 
backpressure valve S 

Ch atelier valve pipe \ 

from Cylinder exhaust ' 

passage to cab 



pips 



Fig. 304. Baldwin Water Brake for Compound Engine, 



454 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. To prevent the steam being superheated during com- 
pression, and to keep pistons and valves from getting dry. 

Q. Under what conditions is the zvater brake or steam 
brake practicable ? 

A. Only at speeds not exceeding 15 miles per hour. 

Q. Describe the Baldwin zvater brake for compound 
engines? 




Cylinder safety valve f^ N -^, 



. ¥ ™, r/r <, „u*„ c ~ xs. . a*. — ^s~ Elbow for SHpipe 
into live steam passage Jt^ J s^vT ?S 




into live steam passage, 
^L./*^?/^ ytTsTo^l^back 




&3S© 



Fig- 3°5- Baldwin Water Brake for Compound Engine, 



AIR-BRAKE RECORDING GAGE. 455 

A. Referring to Figs. 304 and 305 : Water entering the pipe 
A goes to aa and the exhaust passages. The valve D regulates 
the back pressure against which the piston will operate ; E is a 
safety valve in the live steamways ; C, air-inlet valves prevent- 
ing smoke and cinders being drawn into the cylinders ; B, a 
lid to close the exhaust nozzle. 

Q. Hozu is this brake set? 

A. The cylinder cocks are opened, the reverse lever put in 
full backing position, the water valve and the air valve C 
opened, and the exhaust lid B closed. 

Q. Is this brake applicable to all compound engines? 

A. No; in those like the Schenectady two-cylinder com- 
pound there are two water pipes, on account of the great dif- 
ference in the cylinder diameter, and the exhaust valve between 
the receiver and L. P. passage is closed. 

THE AIR-BRAKE RECORDING GAGE. 

Q. What is an air-brake recording gage? 

A. A device recording on a chart what has taken place in 
connection with the brake, just as the steam-engine indicator 
traces a diagram on a so-called "card' ' ; only in this case the 
diagram is continuous ; either on a long strip or on a disk. 

Q. What are its essential features? 

A. A clock-work driving a paper strip or disk on which 
an arm carrying a pen traces a line that is higher or lower 
as the pressure increases or diminishes. 

Q. What pressures does it indicate? 

A. It may be piped to the train line, the auxiliary reservoir, 
or the brake cylinder ; preferably the train line. 

FREIGHT EQUIPMENT. 

Q. What parts are necessary to a freight equipment? 

A. Referring to Fig. 306: An auxiliary air reservoir 10, a 



256 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 




HIGH-PRESSURE CONTROL. 457 

brake cylinder 2 with its piston 3, attached to the push rod of 
the brakes, a release spring 9, and a release valve on the 
auxiliary air reservoir. 

THE HIGH-PRESSURE CONTROL. 

0. What is the high-pressure control equipment? 

A. One sometimes used on freight engines, especially for 
roads having heavy grades and where there are heavy loads 
down grade and only empty cars up. 

Q. What are its special features? 

A. Two sets train-pipe governors, so that there may be 70 
or 90 pounds on the train pipe and 90 or no on the main 
reservoir. 

Q. With this brake, where would there be danger of skid- 
ding wheels? 

A. On empty cars. 

Q. What is the main difference in construction between it 
and the high-speed brake? 

A. There is a governor pipe to the feed-valve bracket cham- 
ber, so that this latter has in it main reservoir pressure. When 
the 90-pound governor is in action, the pump stops at that 
pressure; then if the brakes are set, and the brake valve put 
at "lap," the governor will be thrown out and the pump will 
keep on filling the main reservoir until the pressure therein is 
no pounds, at which maximum the other governor will stop 
too. No high-speed reducing valve is used. 

THE 'AIR-WHISTLE SYSTEM. 

Q. What other safety system has been developed along with 
that of the automatic brake? 

A. The air-whistle system for passenger trains. 

Q. What parts of the air-signal apparatus are placed on the 
engine? 



458 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. The reducing valve (Fig. 311), signal valve (Fig. 310), 
whistle (Fig. 307), pipe connections (Fig. 307), and strainer. 

Q. What parts are on the car? 

A. The discharge valve (Fig. 309), signal cord and signal 
pipe and connections (Fig. 308). 

0. Hozv is the car discharge valve operated? 

A. By pulling the signal cord, forcing the valve 3, and let- 
ting the whistle-line pressure escape to the outer air. 

0. Where is the signal valve located? 

A. In the cab 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Q. Suppose that the brakes are set zvhen the engine is not 
attached to the car, hozv may they be released? 

A. On passenger cars, by opening the release cock in the 
bottom of the auxiliary reservoir ; on freight cars, by opening 
the release valve in the top of that reservoir. 

O. Hozv may you insure the certain release of all the brakes 
in the train, and that the reservoirs will be quickly charged? 

A. By carrying the maximum pressure in the main reservoir 
before connecting to a train. 

Q. What zvill be the effect of coupling together cars which 
have different air pressures in their brake apparatus? 

A. The brakes will be set on those having the highest press- 
ure in the auxiliary reservoir. 

Q. When the brakes are applied either by the train men or 
automatically, should the engine runner aid in stopping the 
train by the brake valve, as in making ordinary stoppages? 

A. Yes. 

Q. What is the essential feature of the automatic brake? 

A. That any reduction of pressure in the train pipes sets 
the brakes. 

Q. What prevents the brakes being set when the cars are 
uncoupled? 




Fig. 29 8. HIGH-SPEED BRAKE. 



AIR SIGNAL. 



459 




THE ABOVE DIAGRAM IS SIMPLY ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE METHOD 
OF. ARRANGING THE COMPRESSED AIR TRAIN SIGNALING APPLIANOES, 
AND MAY BE MODIFIED AS THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE ENGINE DEMANDS. 



Fig. 307. Signal Equipment for Engine. 




Fig. 30S. Location of Signal Apparatus on Coach. 



480 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 




-TO WHISTLE 

Fig. 310. Signal Valve. 




Fig. 311. Improved Reducing Valve. 



TRAIN HANDLING. 461 

A. There is on each end of the train pipe an angle valve, 
which is closed before uncoupling. 

Q. How can any particular car be cut out from the braking 
action? 

A. By a stop-cock in the branch pipe from the main train 
pipe to the quick-action triple valve. 

Q. How is the engineman's brake valve cut out- from any 
but the leading engine, when there are two or more engines 
coupled in the same train? 

A. By stop cock in the main train pipe near the engine run- 
ner's brake valve. 

Q. What should be done in making up trains, as regards the 
couplings and connections? 

A. All couplings should be united so that the brake system 
extends to every car in the train, unless the brake is defective 
on one or more, in which case only this should be cut out. All 
cocks in the main train pipe should be opened, except that on 
the rear of the last car, which should be closed. All cut-off 
cocks in the branch pipes between the main train pipe and the 
triple valves should be opened (except in the case of cars with 
disabled brakes). 

Q. What should be done in the matter of couplings in detach- 
ing engines or cars? 

A. The main train pipe should be closed at the point of 
separation, to prevent setting the brakes, and then the couplings 
should be parted by hand. 

Q. How is the train speed best controlled on long down 
grades, while maintaining a good working pressure? 

A. On ordinary grades, by running the pump at a fair 
speed so that a comparatively high pressure will have been 
accumulated in the main reservoir while the brakes are on, 
which will, when released, enable the auxiliary reservoirs to 



462 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

be recharged before the speed has increased to any consider- 
able extent. 

Q. Hozv should the pump be started? 

A. Comparatively slowly, until it gets warm. 

Q. What is the object of this? 

A. To have an air cushion in the air cylinder and let the 
condensation escape through the exhaust. 

Q. What about lubricating the air pump? 

A. The lubricator should be used as soon as possible after 
starting, but only moderately ; using valve oil only. The piston 
rod should be swabbed with oil. 

Q. Should the emergency brake be used except in a case of 
absolute emergency? 

A. No; it is unpleasant to passengers and does the rolling 
stock no good. 

Q. Should the train- pipe pressure be exhausted to zero in 
putting on the brakes? 

A. No ; it is just a waste of air. They cannot be put on 
any harder than full on, and pressures are calculated so that 
they will be full on long before the train pipe is fully ex- 
hausted. 

Q. How about testing and inspecting brakes on leaving a 
terminal station? 

A. They should be tried then, to be sure that they are in 
perfect condition and that they will work on the first regular 
stop or on the first emergency. 

Q. Hozv should very accurate passenger train stops be 
made? 

A. With two brake applications. 

Q. Hozv can shocks to passengers in stopping be avoided? 

A. By releasing just before train stops, letting the trucks 
right themselves. If on a heavy grade, apply again to prevent 
drifting. -' ■ ■- ■ • ■ 



TRAIN HANDLING. 463 

Q. When should freight-train brakes be released to avoid 
parting? 

A. Never, at a slow speed, before the train stops. 

Q. Hozu about braking for stops to take water on a freight 
train? 

A. The train should be stopped short of the water supply, 
engine uncoupled and run alone to that point. 

Q. What should be observed in setting out cars? 
A. To leave the brakes applied on the train when quitting 
it; then after recoupling the angle cocks must be opened. 

Q. What should be done before starting? 
A. The brakes should be tested and the number and weight 
of cars and the number of brakes in good order ascertained. 

Q. How should the engine be coupled to an empty or a 
partially-charged train ? 

A. With reduced engine and train-pipe pressure. 

Q. What rule about opening the throttle at once after 
releasing freight-train brakes? 

A. It may part the train; the train slack should first adjust 
itself. 

Q. What about emergency application on turntables and at 
water cranes? 

A. It strains the turntables. At these and water cranes 
there should be two applications, aided if necessary by a little 
steam. 

Q. What is the best way to brake heavy freight trains on 
grades and fast passenger trains? 

A. With heavy initial application. 

Q. What should be done at the top of a dozvn grade? 

A. The brakes should be applied, to see if capable of con- 
trolling the train. 

Q. What rule about descending a grade? 



464 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. To keep the train-pipe pressure to the standard by 
frequent recharging. 

Q. Where hand brakes are necessary, on which cars should 
they be applied first? 

A. Those with no air brakes ; then those immediately back 
of the engine. 

Q. Is the full air-brake power available when the hand 
brakes have been put on? 

A. No. 

Q. What rule about using the pressure retainers? 

A. All should be used, unless the train runs too slowly. 

Q. What rule about release position on long trains? 

A. It should be used, regardless of the train length. 

Q. How is recharging to be done, with freight trains, on 
down grades? 

A. It should be done in release position, returning the 
handle to running position when standard train pressure is 
reached, unless a higher pressure is necessary. If the train is 
long, stay at "release" a few seconds, then return to "run-, 
ning," and back to release momentarily to let off any brakes 
on the forward cars which may have charged too rapidly. 

Q. What about using sand? 

A. It should be used before the wheels are liable to slide ; 
otherwise it may cause flatting. 

Q. Which will hold best — driver and tender brakes in good 
condition, or reversing the engine? 

A. The brakes. 

Q. Hozv much braking pozver have these two brakes on 
heavy freight engines? 

A. About the same as from five to seven 60,000-pound 
capacity cars with 30,000 pounds light weight. 

O. What is the effect of reversing after applying the engine 
and tender brakes? 



TRAIN HANDLING. 465 

A. Flatting. 

Q. Where is slight train-pipe leakage dangerous? 

A. On grades, unless the air gage is sharply watched. 

Q. Should the brakes apply suddenly when not intended, 
what should be done? 

A. The brake valve put at "lap" to hold the main-reservoir 
pressure and be able to release brakes and recharge auxiliary 
reservoirs. 

0. What are causes of sucli sudden unexpected braking? 
A. (i) Broken hose, (2) conductor's application. 

0. In case of parting between air-braked cars on a partially 
equipped train, what is to be done? 
A. Throttle closed. 

0. What is the principal cause of flatting? 
A. Trying to release by putting the valve handle at 
" running.' ' 

0. What should be done zvith passenger trains after leaving 
terminals or changing engines? 

A. A running test should be made. 

Q. In backing a train only partially equipped with air 
brakes, what should be done? 

A. Hand brakes put on at the rear. 

0. Where else is this advisable? 

A, To hold slack when parts of the train are on each side 
of a summit. 

Q. Where is this not advisable? 

A. To avoid shocks in the caboose when the air brakes are 
put on at a head of a partially equipped train. 

Q. Why? 

A. The hand brakes tend to stretch out the train and make 
more slack. 

Q. In actual emergency cases what should be done? 



466 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. The handle held at "emergency application" until the 
train is still ; if a passenger train, until the danger is by. 

Q. What relations between train length and discharge at the 
train-pipe exhaust port? 

A. The shorter the train, the shorter the discharge for a 
given reduction. 

Q. Of what use is this fact? 

A. It informs the engineman whether or not the angle cocks 
are open between tender and cars. 

Q. Suppose there are "empties" to be hauled up grades and 
the same number of "loads" dozvn; should the train-pipe 
pressure be the same? 

A. No; say 70 pounds for the "empties"' (to avoid wheel 
flatting) and 90 for the "loads." 

Q. What brake-cylinder pressures will fo pounds train-pipe 
pressures give in emergency stops? 

A. About 60 pounds with the Westinghouse brake. 

Q. What for service stops? 
A. About 50 pounds. 

Q. With 90 pounds train-pipe pressure how much train-pipe 
reduction is necessary to equalise the auxiliary and brake 
cylinder pressures? 

A. About 25 pounds. 

Q. In air-brake parlance , what is meant by excess pressure? 

A. The difference between main-reservoir and train-pipe 
pressure ; usually 20 to 30 pounds. 

Q. Does the length of the train have anything to do with 
the amount of excess pressure carried? 

A. To insure a quick release of the brakes the train pipe 
must be charged its whole length as quickly as possible so that 
all the brakes will release as uniformly as possible, to avoid 
jerking the train. It will take more air to charge a long train 



TRAIN HANDLING. 467 

pipe than a short one, therefore with the same reservoir less 
excess will do the work with a short train. 

Q. What is a service application? 

A. Gradual braking. 

Q. What is an emergency application? 

A. Practically instantaneous application of full brake power 
by sudden reduction of train-pipe pressure. 

Q. Does the friction between brake shoe and -wheel vary 
with the rotation speed of the wheel? 

A. Yes. 

Q. Does the adhesion between wheel and rail vary with the 
speed? 

A. No. 
. 0. To zvhat does this point? 

A. To the possibility — indeed, the necessity — of greater 
brake-cylinder and brake-shoe pressure with high rotation 
speeds ; provided this increased pressure can be reduced down 
as the rotation speed decreases. 

Q. How is this reduction effected? 

A. By the automatic reducing valve. 

Q. What effect does it have on a bridge to apply brakes 
when the train is thereon? 

A. There is a force produced which tends to push the rails 
in the direction the train is running. 

0. What effect does it have on a bridge to apply brakes 
before reaching it, and to hold them on while the train is 
passing over the bridge? 

A. Same as preceding answer. 

Q. Will a cam driver-brake set the brake harder with a long 
or short piston travel, provided the air pressure is the same in 
the brake cylinders in both cases? 

A. The brake will set tighter with the longer piston travel. 
The cam screws are brought more nearly horizontal where the 



468 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

greatest power of the brake is obtained. In other words, w r ith 
the short travel the cams stand higher, and have a downward 
thrust as well as one towards the wheel center. 

Q. Why is it that an engine air gage will show 70 pounds 
train line and po pounds main reservoir with engine when not 
coupled to any cars, but as soon as coupled up to the train, the 
train line hand may drop 5 pounds or more? When the engine 
is cut off afterward, the hands stand all right again. It 
is a D-$ (1892 model) brake valve. 

A. As the train-line pressure approaches 70, the supply 
valve begins to close, making a smaller opening through the 
brake valve to the train pipe. If the train line is tight, the 
supply valve will finally close and the train line pointer on the 
gage will register full train-line pressure. However, should 
the train line leak, the supply valve cannot close, but must 
remain open and feed the leaks. If the leaks are heavy the 
valve will stay open, and the gage register short of full train- 
line pressure, in proportion to the leakage. 

Q. What are the various causes for wheel sliding, which 
particularly concern the train and engine men? 

A. (1) Too high (over 70 pounds) train-pipe pressure. 
(2) Hand brake, especially if used with air brake. (3) Stick- 
ing brakes (triples, with poorly fitting packing rings). (4) 
Leakage by rubber seat of emergency valve. (5) Plugged up 
exhaust port of retaining valve in either of its positions. (6) 
Heavy brake applications, especially with empty cars or on a 
slippery rail. (7) Too short piston travel. (8) Unequal dis- 
tribution of brake power where rigging has a short equalizing 
lever and same strikes, under brake application, on rod jjaw 
by reason of slack being taken up too much on one end of 
the car. (9) Brake shoes freezing to wheels. 

Q. What pressure should be carried in the signal line? 
A. Forty pounds. 



GENERAL. 469 

Q. How would you know whether or not there was main 
reservoir pressure in the signal line? 

A. (i) By the whistle blowing when brakes were released; 
(2) by the inspection gage. 

Q. Hozv zvould you repair a broken signal pipe line? 

A. Usually, plug it. 

0. Hozv much of the weight of a passenger car should be 
braked? 

A. 90 per cent. 

Q. Is this usual? 

A. No; in freight service from 70 to 90 per cent of the 
light weight of the car is usually braked. 

Q. With the very best brakes, hozv do stops at different 
speeds compare? 

A. On a level, directly with the square of the speed. 

Q. At 60 miles an hour, hozv many feet a second will a 
train move? 

A. Eighty-eight. 

Q. What is the effect of cutting out the engine-truck brake? 

A. The train will run considerably farther before a stop can 
be accomplished. 

Q. What about the position of the shoes and angle of the 
brake-beam hangers? 

A. Practice in this respect is reasonably correct; but incor- 
rect angle of the hanger may cause either considerable loss of 
power or such an increase as may slide the wheels. 

Q. In what position will the best results be obtained? 

A. If when the brakes are on, the hanger is parallel to a 
tangent to the wheel at the middle point of the brake-shoe 
contact. 

Q. What may be said about loss of brake efficiency by reason 
of low train and reservoir pressures? 

A. This is getting to be less, by reason of the pressure used 



470 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

being increased ; now where the road passes through a hilly 
country, over 70 pounds are used. 

Q. What may be said of piston travel in connection with the 
brake? 

A. It is often too great, and more often unequal in the 
various cars ; some may have six inches and some ten ; which 
makes smooth stopping difficult. 

Q. What about the tension of the cylinder release spring, as 
causing loss of brake efficiency? 

A. This is quite considerable, and probably can never be 
eliminated. 

Q. Hozv about the loss of efficiency from beam release 
springs? 

A. This is the least excusable of all; the shoes should fall 
off from the wheels by their own weight. Their. tension should 
be made and kept as low as possible. 

Q. Hozv about the loss by friction in foundation brakes? 

A. The amount of such loss has never been properly deter- 
mined. 

Q. What about insufficient leverage? 

A. This comes from one of two causes; either the adoption 
of low standards of brake power, or mistakes in putting up 
foundation brakes. 

THE K TRIPLE VALVE. 

Q. What is the object of the improved K triple valve? 

A. To supersede the former quick-action triple valve. 

Q. What is the effect of this? 

A. (1) More rapid fall of pressure in the brake pipe 
throughout the train, and quicker serial setting of the brakes, 
than with the old triple; (2) on long trains, in letting off the 
brakes, those on the front cars may be held on until the rear 
ones are off, lessening the tendency to break the train in two ; 
(3) delayed recharging, thus slowing up recharging of the 



K TRIPLE VALVE. 



471 



head, and giving more air with which to release and recharge 
the rear brakes; (4) preventing overcharging of the auxiliary 
reservoirs in front, usually resulting in the resetting of the 
brakes near the engine when the brake-valve handle is brought 
to "running"; (5) air saving; (6) more uniform application; 
(7) more certain application on long trains and with any 
desired service reduction; (8) in heavy grade work, less 
chance of losing air and having the train run away. 




Fig. 312. K Triple Valve, Kxterior View. 

Q. What is the advantage of the nezv triple valve over the 
old in emergency applications? 

A. None. 

Q. In service application with 70 pounds brake pipe pres- 
sure, how much reduction will set the brakes full? 

A. About 17 pounds, instead of 20 as with the standard 
triple. 



472 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. Can these new triples be mixed in considerable numbers 
with the standard ones? 

A. Yes; and if the train be long, the action will be better 
than with only standard triples. 

Q. Hozv would you explain the action of the new triples? 

A. With reference to Fig. 315, which shows the valve in 



r 



tace: view 
GRADUATING VALVE. 









TACE VIEW 



!*i 



& z $o:::::t 






TOP VIEW 

SLIDE VALVE. 



^^^<^W^^ 



*0 id 



»^»mm^ 



SLIDE VALVE BUSH. 



-K TRIPLE VALVE 

Kg- 313. 



full release position : Brake-pipe pressure coming through BP 
passes through the passages a, e, b, g to the chamber R, and 
out to the auxiliary reservoir; also past the check valve from 
a into Y, through y in the body, and ; in the slide valve into 



K TRIPLE VALVE. 



473 



To Auxiliary Reserve 




From Brake Pipe 



Fig. 314. Sectional View K Triple Valve. 

chamber R and the auxiliary reservoir. This charges the auxil- 
iary reservoir with the same pressure as in the brake pipe. 

Q. How would you explain the operation of this valve in 
service position? 




Fig- 3 X 5- K Triple Valve, Full Release. 



474 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. Referring to Fig. 316, which shows the valve while 
there is being made a service reduction in the brake-pipe press- 
ure: 

The triple piston has been moving to the left until it has 
reached the graduating stem, and has carried with it the main 
slide valve 3 and the graduating slide valve. Ports z 
of the main slide and r of its seat are together; the former 
being uncovered to let air pass from the auxiliary reservoir 
to the brake cylinder. Passages y and are together; the 



W/MW//////M 







Fig. 316, K Triple Valve, Service Position. 



arch v of the graduating valve spans and q. The latter is 
in line with the passage t leading round the piston to the 
chamber x to the brake cylinder. The total effect is to permit 
brake-pipe air to pass into the brake cylinder, while the 
auxiliary supplies air. 

0. When docs the triple valve assume service position? 
A. When the pressure in the auxiliary is slightly greater 
than that in the brake pipe. 



K TRIPLE VALVE. 



475 



Q. Describe the position of the various ports and parts in 
the triple valve when in service lap position? 

A. Referring to Fig. 317: The triple piston has moved 
the graduating valve so that it closes the ports 0, q, and z, 
and cuts off passage of air from both the auxiliary and the 
brake pipe to the brake cylinder. 

Q. Where is the main slide valve in this position, as com- 
pared zvith that when at "service"? 

A. It is further ahead, caused by the brake-pipe pressure 



'^4>/////S//////////////s 




Fig. 317. K Triple Valve, Service Lap Position. 



having been lowered faster than the auxiliary pressure could 
reduce to the brake cylinder. 

0. Otherwise what would be the result? 

A. The port would stay in register with y, as in Fig. 316, 
but the graduating valve would have closed the ports o and z y 
just as in Fig. 317. 

Q. How is the triple valve brought to retarded release posi- 
tion? 

A. By letting main-reservoir air into the brake pipe fast 



47ti 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



enough to raise the pressure considerably above that in the 
auxiliary. 

Q. Describe the operation in the retarded release position? 

A. As shown in Fig. 318: Brake-pipe pressure sends the 
triple piston to the extreme right, making it strike the slide- 
valve bush.- Then no air can pass through the charging groove 
i; it must pass through y in the slide-valve seat and / in the 
slide valve, to get to the auxiliary reservoir. The piston stem 




Fig. 318. K Triple Valve, Retarded-Release Position. 

compresses the retarded release spring. The slide valve has 
brought the restricted part of port n over the exhaust port p,. 
lessening its discharging capacity and causing slow brake 
release. 

Q. How far back in the train can this retarded release be 
had? 

A. About 30 cars back, in a 100-car train. 

0. What brings the triple piston to retarded release posi- 
tion? 

A. The pressure on the brake-pipe side of the triple piston 
must be enough greater than that in the auxiliary to allow the 



K TRIPLE VALVE. 



477 



greater pressure acting on the brake pipe side of the piston 
to compress the retarded release spring. 

Q, What prevents any rapid rise of pressure far back in the 
train? 

A. The friction in the pipe due to the flow of air. 

Q. When does the K triple valve assume the emergency 
position? 

A. Whenever there is a very rapid and great reduction of 
brake-pipe pressure, as when the brake is quickly set by the 
bursting of a hose. 

Q. Describe the operation of the K triple valve in emergency 
position? 

A. In reference to Fig. 319, the operation is the same as for 



WW//MW/mA 




Fig- 3 T 9' K Triple Valve, Emergency Position. 

the standard triple. Air is let in on the top of the emergency 
piston through the port t, forcing down the piston ; brake-pipe 
pressure raises the check valve, and brake-pipe air and auxil- 
iary air can pass through ports r to the brake cylinder at C. 
Q. How many sizes of K triples are there? 



478 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. Two: Ki for 8-inch freight experiments and I\2 for 
io-inch. 

Q. Are these valves interchangeable with the older standard 
ones of the same capacity? 

A. Yes. 

Q. On an eighty-car train, how much reduction will set all 
the brakes? 

A. Five pounds. 

Q. Why can this be done zvith the K triple valve? 

A. By reason of the venting of the brake-pipe air to brake- 
pipe cylinder. 

Q. What about the care and maintenance of the K triple? 

A. The same rules apply as for the old standard triple. 



CHAPTER V. 
LUBRICATION. . 

Q. What is the use of lubrication? 

A. To interpose between the comparatively rough rubbing 
surfaces a film of material which will fill up the hollows and 
prevent the projections catching in each other. 

0. What are the necessary qualities of a good lubrica.A? 

A. Fluidity, to enable it to reach the rubbing surfaces, with 
sufficient "body'' to prevent its being easily squeezed out; 
capacity to withstand great heat without being disintegrated; 
at the same time resistance to stiffening at low temperatures ; 
freedom from acid which would corrode the rubbing surfaces. 

0. What arc the best all-around lubricants for ordinary 
zvorking conditions? 

A. Fats and oils. 

Q. What solid substance is a good lubricant, where the pres- 
sures and temperatures are great? 

A. Flake graphite, where it can be properly introduced be- 
tween the rubbing surfaces. 

0. What is the disadvantage of animal oil for cylinder lu- 
brication ? 

A. At high temperatures it is decomposed and forms "fatty 
acids" which honeycomb the cylinder. 

Q. What is a fault of mineral oil for cylinder lubrication? 

A. Lack of "body." 

Q. What is the effect of the introduction of oil or other lu- 
bricant betzceen rubbing parts? 

A. Unless the space between them is too small, to substi- 
tute for the friction of the metal against metal that of metal 
against lubricant or of lubricant against lubricant. If, how- 



480 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

ever, the parts are held immovably very close together, as is 
the case with the plug-and-ring gages used in shops, oil will 
prevent their coming together or moving. 

Q. Upon zvhat does the amount of friction depend? 

A. On the character of the rubbing surface (that is, their 
material and condition), the speed at which they are rubbing, 
and the pressure between them. 

Q. Explain how the oil gets from the lubricator cup to 
steam-chest and cylinders? 

A. When the steam, water, and feed valves are open, and 
the "sight-feed" glasses full of water, oil will pass upwards 
through the water, which is heavier than oil, until the steam 
current from the equalizing-tubes takes it and delivers it as 
fine spray through the small nozzle in the side of the cup, and 
thence to the steam-chest. 

Q. What about the small check valves over sight-feed glasses 
— for what are they? 

A. They act by reason of the steam pressure from the equal- 
izing valves., in case the sight-feed glass breaks. 

Q. Are there any other valves between lubricator and steam 
chest? 

A. No. They would prevent the oil spray from reaching 
the steam chest. 

Q. After tilling the oil cup, zvhat valve do yon open first? 
Why? 
• A. The water valve, to let the oil expand. 

Q. If you should fill the cup with cold oil while in the house, 
zvould you open the zvater valve or leave it closed? 
A. Open it. 

Q. How often should lubricators be cleaned out? Why? 
A. That depends on the kind of oil being fed ; from one to 
twelve weeks ; the poorer the oil the oftener cleaning is needed. 



LUBRICATION. 481 

Q. How often should all rod and guide cups be taken out 
and cleaned? 
A. Weekly. 

O. What does "cross-feeding" of a sight-feed cup mean? 

A. The feeds on each side of a locomotive cup are intended 
to be independent of each other, each to feed on its own side 
only. If, however, the oil can get from one side and cross 
over to the oil pipe on the other side of the cup, permitting ail 
the oil to go to one side of the engine, it is said to kk cross-feed," 
or feed across the cup to the opposite side. In such cases 
one side of the engine gets no oil at all, and as the drops are 
rising regularly through both glasses it gives no warning 
until too late. Some of the old style cups will do this when 
the oil pipe becomes stopped so oil cannot get out of the am, 
through the pipe to the steam chest; modern lubricators are 
arranged to overcome this defect. 

Q. What is positive lubrication? 

A. Forced feed of the oil to the rubbing parts, as distin- 
guished from gravity lubrication or gravity feed. 

Q. Where is it practised? 

A. In modern European engines, w T here the oil is pumped 
through the oil pipes to the bearings at a rate dependent on 
the speed of the engine. 

Q. Should the sight-feed glass or feed valve on one side 
become broken or inoperative, can that on the other side be 
used? 

A. That depends on the style of lubricator used ; some will 
Wi cross-feed," some will not. 

Q. Explain the "cross-feeding" difficulty as experienced in 
sonic of the lubricators in service. 

A. There are two equalizing tubes, one for each side ; and 
in case one gets stopped up the other cannot send oil to that 
side. 



482 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

0. Is there a possibility of losing all the oil out of the lubri- 
cator after shutting off both bottom feeds to steam chest, when 
engine is allowed to cool down? 

A. Yes. It may be drawn through when the steam in the 
boiler condenses and the external air pressure tends to force 
oil from the lubricator into the vacuum thus formed ; but this 
can only take place if the steam, the water, and the feed valves 
of the lubricator are left open, which should not be the case. 

Q. Does the draft from the open cab windows affect the 
working of the lubricators? 
A. Yes. 

Q. Why? 

A. It chills them. 

Q. Suppose the lubricator on one side chokes between sta- 
tions on a fast run, what is to be done? 

A. (i) Blow out the obstruction from the choke plug or 
(2) oil by hand through the auxiliary, 

Q. How is the obstruction to be blown out? 

A. Shut off the feed plugs and condenser plug and take the 
boiler pressure from the top of the lubricator ; with a wrench 
loosen the feed plug where it screws into the bottom arm of 
the sight-feed glass, and blow the glass clean, if the apparatus 
permits ; if not, open up and go on. 

Q. What is to be noted in connection with heavy oil in sight- 
feed lubricators? 

A. If it is so heavy that it gets near the specific gravity of 
water, it is apt to lie on the nipple of the sight-feed tube, and 
instead of rising in drops through the center, to run up the 
side of the cup. 

Q. What should be done zvith oil that is in this condition? 
A. It should be thinned with a lighter grade. 

Q. Of what kind of metal are lubricators made? 



LUBRICATION. 483 

A. Usually of brass or of gun metal, tested to twenty 
atmospheres. 

Q. How much will cylinder oil increase in bulk when heated 
from normal temperature of fo° F. to 390 to 400 F.f 
A. Nearly one-fifth. 

0. What then is the effect of filling lubricators that have no 
expansion chambers, with cold oil, and not at once opening the 
water valves and steam valves? 

A. A burst cup is likely to result. 

Q. What is another cause of bursting or bulging lubricator 
cups? 

A. Neglecting to drain the water from them when from any 
cause the boiler gets cold in a freezing temperature. 

Q. Where are the principal causes of lubricator trouble? 
A. In the choke plugs, equalizing tubes, and check valves. 

0. To keep the sight-feed lubricator working well, what is 
necessary? 

A. To have full boiler pressure always in the steam chamber. 

Q. What facilitates this? 
A. The choke plug. 

Q. What is the size of the hole in the choke plug? 

A. From 1/32 to nearly % inch in diameter, according to 
the size, style, and make of the lubricator. 

0. What is the effect of the hole wearing larger or the plug 
getting smaller? 

A. The pressure in the cup will vary with the steam-chest 
pressure. 

Q. What are the usual causes of irregular working of a 
lubricator? 

A. (1) Too small an opening in the steam supply valve, or 
too small a pipe; (2) stopping up of the equalizing tubes; (3) 
looseness of the choke plugs in the hole. 



484 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What is the effect of throttling or wire-drawing the 
steam in the pipe from the boiler to the sight-feed cup? 

A. To make the cup feed irregularly. 

Q. What is the use of the equalizing tubes? 

A. To overcome the back pressure from the steam chest, 
and furnish condensed water to the sight-feed glass. 

Q. What is the remedy for choke plugs filling up? 

A. To remove them and clean out the hole. 

Q. What is ihe remedy where choke plugs are zvorn so as 
to be loose, or the hole through them is too large? 

A. To replace them by new plugs. 

Q. What is apt to happen if the pipes from the lubricator to 
the steam chests are not straight and of gradual fall? 

A. They may trap the oil and cause irregular lubrication ; 
especially where the engine is working slowly with full open 
throttle. 

Q. Can oil be blown out from the cup? 

A. It sometimes takes place when the boiler is cooling down, 
the feed valves shut, and the water and steam valves open. 

Q. What should be done when the sight-feed gets clogged? 

A. The water valve should be closed and the drain cock 
opened, then the steam valve opened, so that the steam blowing 
down through the equalizing tubes will force the obstructions 
out of the feed tube into the body of the cup. 

Q. What is the best way to close the oil feeds? 

A. Usually by closing the water valve, so as to cut off pres- 
sure from the body of the lubricator. 

Q. Will the feed start up at the same number of drops per 
minute when the valve is again opened as before it was closed? 

A. Yes. 

Q. When the locomotive is zvorking very light and it is de- 
sired to restrict the amount of oil feed to the cylinders, hozv 
may this be done? 



LUBRICATION. 48& 

A. By completely closing the water valve. 

Q. What objection is there to the practice of closing the 
water valve to shut off or lessen the feed? 
A. It shuts off the oil from the air pump. 

Q. Should lubricators be filled quite full? 
A. No. 

Q. In what order should the valves be opened in putting 
them into service? 

A. First the steam valve, then the water valve, then the 
feed. 

Q. In shutting off, what should be the order of handling the 
valves? 

A. First the feed, next the water valve, last the steam valve. 

Q. If steam is turned into the lubricator, zchat care should 
be exercised before the feed is started? 

A. To see if the side glasses have condensed full of water. 

Q. When the feeding glasses have an inside coating of oil, 
and a drop from the feed tube runs up the side of the glass, of 
what is that a sign? 

A. Either of too thick oil, or that the feed has been turned 
on before the glass had condensed fully. 

Q. What causes discoloration of the zcater in the glass? 

A. Failing to open the steam valve before the throttle. 

0. What is a hindrance to perfect lubrication in the case of 
the sight-feed lubricator? 

A. The formation of a "water seal'' in the oil pipes. 

Q. There is a lubricator that cannot be oiled through one 
of the cups while the engine is drifting, on account of steam 
escaping. The one opposite is all right. What causes the 
trouble? 

A. An obstruction in the tallow pipe, preventing the steam 
from blowing down the pipe with sufficient freedom, and cans- 



486 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

ing a back pressure which sends the steam through the auxil- 
iary hand oiler whenever the latter is opened. 

Q. What is the cause of sight-feed glass on lubricator filling 
with oil? 

A. A general cause applying to all makes is, the glass and 
passages above it to the steam passages get gummed up, so 
that the oil sticks there, and has not enough buoyancy to rise 
higher. 

Q. What causes discoloration of the water in the oil-feed 
glasses ? 

A. Mixed water and oil, and sometimes air from the cup, 
forced back by over-compression. 

Q. At what cut-offs do engines give the least trouble with 
valves running dry? 

A. At short ones, as the varying chest pressures give the 
oil no chance to flow down; and especially at high speeds. 

Q. Describe the automatic steam chest plug? 

A. It is between the tallow pipe and the steam chest, and 
has therein a choke with a ball valve, which when the throttle 



Choke 




Choke'] 



Fig. 320. Automatic Chest Plug. 

is open lies to one side as shown in Fig. 320. When, how- 
ever, the throttle is shut the ball covers the choke, with the 
exception of a small hole through which but a limited amount 
of oil can pass. 



LUBRICATION. 487 

Q. With such a device, what is the remedy for a dry valve? 
A. Pulling the throttle wide open, so as to unseat the ball 
and let more oil flow in to the chest. 

Q. Hon* many drops are there in a pint of oil? 

A. That depends on the density of the oil and the size of 
the hole in the feed tubes ; 3,600 may be said to be a fair aver- 
age. 

Q, Assuming 3,600 drops to the pint, and five drops per 
minute to the steam chest and one drop to the air pump, how 
long would a pint last? 

A. 3,600 -r- (60 X 6) = 10 hours. 

Q. Hozu many drops are there in a pint of Galena valve oil, 
and how long should it last? 

A. For Galena oil, average 6,500 to 6,600 drops ; at five 
drops per minute for each cylinder and one for the air pump we 
have nearly ten hours. At 15 miles an hour, 150 miles per 
pint ; at 25 miles, 250 miles ; but really the high speeds call for 
more oil. 

Q. What about the quantity of oil required for bearing 
surfaces? 

A. Xo general rule can be laid down as regards drops per 
mile, as some oil has more drops per pint than others ; also the 
condition of the bearings, speed at which the train is run, the 
load that is being hauled, the regularity of speed, the condi- 
tion of the rails, the temperature of the surrounding air, and 
other things tend to cause variation. 

Q. What is a good way to get the oil on the valve seat in 
making long runs, without shutting off steam? 

A. To ease off on the throttle for a minute to lessen the 
pressure in the chest, and thus let that in the lubricator force 
in the oil. 

Q. What will empty a lubricator of oil after the steam and 
expansion valves of both feeders are closed? 



488 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. Condensation of the steam in the condenser and pipe 
connections, causing a vacuum in the oil cup. 

Q. How does the oil get from the cup to the steam chest? 

A. The condenser at the top of the cup is full of condensed 
steam from the boiler connection at its top. Boiler steam 
passes down steam pipes to top arms over the sight-feed glasses, 
thence through oil pipes to the chest. From the bottom of the 
condenser to that of the oil tank there is a pipe down which 
water can pass, driving the oil out into the sight-feed glass, in 
which it rises to where it mixes with the steam passing to the 
chest. 

Q. Why are there check valves .over the sight-feed glasses? 

A. To be closed in case a glass bursts. 

Q. Is there boiler pressure in the lubricator, condenser and 
oil chamber? 

A. Yes. 

Q. While working full throttle, are the tallow pipes from 
steam chest to lubricator full of condensed water, or of steam? 

A. It is generally a mixture of both ; but with the most im- 
proved lubricators means are provided for preventing water 
forming in the pipes. 

Q. What is the first requisite of lubrication? 

A. Good oil or other lubricant. 

Q. What care should be taken zvith oil cans? 

A. That no waste threads get in them ; such threads could 
get around a main-rod cup spindle and stop the feed. 

Q. With what lubricating arrangement should eccentric 
straps be provided? 

A. With oil cellars below, to catch the oil and throw it up 
again. 

Q. What precaution should be taken with regard to the lower 
strap joint in the matter of lubrication? 

A. To have it oil tight. 



LUBRICATION, 489 

Q. Hozl' should eccentric-strap oil cups be made? 
A. As part of the strap itself. 

Q. What is a faulty construction of driving boxes in rela- 
tion to lubrication? 

A. Where there are holes drilled to the wedges at such a 
point that the latter get the oil meant for the journals. 

0. Which driving boxes require the more oil — steel or cast 
iron? 
A. Steel. 

0. Which wheel hubs require the more oil — steel or iron? 
A. Steel. 

Q. What bearings give about the most trouble? 

A. Those of the trucks. 

0. What is apt to cause this? 

A. Equalizers bearing unequally on the two ends of the 
brass ; the brass being longer than the box ; the oil recess in 
the top being clogged ; cellar bolts not filling the holes. 

Q. How can the trouble with oval cellar-bolt holes be cured? 

A. By making the bolts out of correspondingly flatted rod. 

Q. Which is better for truck cellars — woolen waste or 
cotton? 

A. Woolen, because elastic. 

Q. What is a good "home-made" truck cellar packing? 

A. Tight small rolls of ingrain carpet as long as the cellar is 
long inside, and laid lengthwise of the journal. 

Q. What is "wick trimming" ? 

A. An English feeder for engine-axle brass, made by pass- 
ing yarn or wicking through a loop of copper wire, so that 
when the yarn is doubled back along the wire it will loosely 
fill the oil hole. 

Q. What is the use of the wire loop? 

A. As a handle. 



490 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. Hozv is such wick feed adjusted? 

A. By varying the number of yarn strands ; the more strands 
the less feed. 

Q. Hozv can an eccentric strap be oiled, that has the oil hole 
out of sight zvhen the sheave belly is below the axle? 

A. By having a short piece of pipe screwed into the hole. 

Q. How can oiling truck boxes be facilitated? 
A. By having oil pipes as high up as the frame. 

Q. Why is it that sometimes after having stirred the cellar 
packing up against the journal the latter runs hot? 

A. Because gritty waste has been brought up against the 
journal. 

Q. What rule should be observed on oiling up? 

A. To fill all cups before starting out, and adjust the feed 
just so that the oil will keep the pins, etc., cool, but not splash 
out. 

Q. What facilitates getting the oil to the wedges? 
A. Putting the engine on the forward center with the lever 
in the back notch. 

Q. On which side is oiling the axle boxes most important — 
inside or out? 

A. Inside, on account of the cinders from the ash pit. 

Q. Which guide requires the most oil? 

A. The upper one, because the engine runs more ahead than 
backwards. 

Q. What part of some classes of engines is it apt to be 
difficidt to oil zvith the lever in the back motion? 

A. The lower end of the link. 

Q. What is a good way to keep the waste up against the 
truck journals? 

A. To twist up a .bunch of waste like a rope and push it 
hard against the back of the box so as to act as a dust guard 



LUBRICATION. 491 

and oil holder, and then pack under the journal as high up 
as the middle line of the axle. 

Q. What kind of packing should be used in replenishing or 
repacking? 

A. Drained and saturated. 

Q. What is the effect of carrying oil cans next the boiler 
heads in warm weather? 

A. The oil is made unnecessarily thin, thus having less body, 
and causing hot bearings. 

Q. What is sometimes the result of poking at or lifting pack- 
ing on top of driver boxes? 

A. Heating, as cinders are apt to get underneath the pack- 
ing. 

Q. What should be done when the oil on top of the boxes 
becomes liver-like? 

A. A little petroleum should be used to cut it out of the 
packing. 

Q. What about the use of saturated packing? 
A. It should be used in replenishing or new packing, not 
thrown away, even if a little seared over. 

Q. What about the use of bottom waste as against wool? 
A. It is closer and saves oil in warm weather if put on top 
of the boxes. 

Q. What kind of a spout should the oil-can have? 

A. One made with a spiral "reinforce" of metal strip so 
as to prevent bending, flattening, or breaking, and with a check 
valve to prevent oil flowing out when the spout is being 
changed from one oil hole to another. 

0. Should water be used on a hot crank pin where the bab- 
bitt has started? 

A. No ; it is apt to crack the brass or spring it so it cannot 
be straightened or cannot run cool. 



492 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

0. What are the principal causes of heating engine-truck 
brasses? 

A. (i) Uneven distribution of weight on the top of the 
brass, through the equalizers not being in proper adjustment, 
(2) brasses (second hand) that are thicker at one end than 
at the other, (3) truck frames not high enough from the box, 
(4) waste packing settling from the journals. 

Q. What may be said in general in the matter of oiling? 

A. It should be frequent, regular, and not excessive; every 
wearing surface should receive oil at every station, where there 
is time enough, and every one should have the hand laid on it 
to notice whether or not it is getting warm. 

Q. Hozv are the slides oiled? 

A. By oil cups on the top guides or on the cross head. 

Q. What special precaution should be taken in oiling the 
engine? 

A. To oil the sides of all boxes and bearings. 

Q. Why not put the truck-axle bearings outside the wheels, 
where they could be more readily oiled and inspected, and 
where renewal would be easier? 

A. Because they would be in the way of the cylinders. 

Q. Name an often-neglected cause of the back rod end 
heating? 

A. A forward-end brass keyed too tight. 

0. When should the preliminary oiling before leaving take 
place? 

A. Immediately before pulling out. 

Q. When should special attention be paid to oiling? 

A. Just after the engine comes from the repair shop. 



CHAPTER VI. 
KNOCKS AND POUNDS. 

Q. What are the most usual causes of pounding? 

A. (i) Lost motion in the connecting-rod brasses, between 
the driving boxes and the jaws, or (2) in the driving-box 
brasses; (3) side rods out of tram or with badly-worn brasses; 
(4) worn guides; (5) piston head touching the cylinder head; 
(6) spider getting loose on a piston rod; (7) a piston rod 
loose in the crosshead. 

0. Where will the pounding be in case of worn guides? 

A. At the crosshead. 

Q. What is this liable to cause? 

A. A bent piston rod. 

Q. What is the best zcay to find out where a pound is? 

A. To put one of the cranks on the quarter, block the 
wheels and have the throttle opened a little, and the engine 
reversed with steam on ; then each connection may be watched 
in turn as it comes and goes. 

Q. Under what conditions will a crosshead pound? 

A. When the guides are worn very open. 

0. Under what circumstances will side rods pound on the 
centers? 

A. When they are out of tram or their brasses are badly 
worn. 

0. Where is the most difficult knock to place on an engine? 

A. That caused by a spider that has come loose on the 
piston rod ; or that when the piston packing is too short. 

0. Hozc can the knock caused by a loose spider be detected? 

A. By the slight blow and the sharp click that is made when 
the engine is passing over both centers. 



494 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. Hozv may a loose spider be detected? 

A. By the sharp knock made when passing the front center. 

Q. What is a very rare cause of piston pounding ? 

A. Where a thick cylinder has been rebored until there is 
no counterbore left and the piston head has worn a shoulder; 
the slightest alteration in it's adjustment will cause the piston 
to strike this shoulder. 

Q. Suppose that an engine pounds in full gear and the 
pounding cannot be stopped by either tightening or slackening 
the brasses, what should be done? 

A. More lead, or more cushion, should be given. 

Q. Why is it that engines zvill sometimes pound only in full 
gear? 

A. Because there the lead is least, with the ordinary shift- 
ing-link motion. 

Q. When pounding lessens when the engine is hooked up, 
of what is that the sign? 

A. Of insufficient cushion. 

Q. But why is the pounding less when the lever is in the 
center notch? 

A. Because there cushion and preadmission are greater than 
with full valve opening. 

Q. Of what may a neglected pound be the forerunner? 
A. Of a broken crank pin, cylinder head, etc. 

Q. What should the engine runner do on discovering a 
serious pound? 

A. First locate it, then report it, thus relieving himself of 
further responsibility in the matter and enabling prevention 
of an accident. 

Q. What are the most usual causes of pounding? 
A. Lost motion in connecting-rod brasses or between the 
driving boxes and the jaws, or in the driving-box brasses; 



KNOCKS AND POUNDS. 495 

insufficient oiling of piston, main shaft, main crank pin or 
wrist pin ; side rods out of tram or with badly worn brasses ; 
worn guides ; piston touching the cylinder head ; piston rod 
loose in either the crosshead or the piston head ; too close 
wedges, loose knuckle pin or bushing, loose middle connecting 
brasses, wedge down or stuck; broken frame, loose cylinders 
or deck ; loose pedestal braces where the frame is light ; faulty 
fitting of shoes and wedges ; loose oil cellars or driving brasses 
(either circle or gibbed), square-bottom spring bands, poorly- 
fitted spring saddles or anything that hinders free movement 
of the equalizers ; springs rubbing the boiler, saddle striking 
the frame ; wet steam or foaming ; excessive back pressure ; 
imperfectly balanced drivers ; too much or too little steam 
cushion ; loose cylinders ; loose follower bolt. 

Q. What may be effect of lost motion in the valve gear? 

A. Rattling reverse lever. 

Q. What, of valves out of square? 

A. Jerks when hooked up near the middle a 

Q. Do parallel rods pound? 

A. No; they rattle. 

Q. Do packing springs pound? 

A. Xo ; they click. 

Q. When an engine pounds on the back center, for what 
should you look? 

A. A loose spider. 

Q. On the front center? 

A. Loose driving boxes or wedges. 

Q. On the quarter? 

A. Flat spots on the tire. 

0. What is the sign of a loose spider? 

A. A hard knock when the engine is on back center, so that 
the tendency is to push the spider off the fit. 

Q. What could cause pounding in a shut-off engine? 



496 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. (i) New piston packing striking against an old shoulder 
in the cylinder; (2) faulty adjustment bringing the piston too 
far front or back and thus striking a shoulder. 

Q. What would cause a piston-valve engine to pound when 
running shut off with the lever hooked up, although she does 
not pound when the lever is in the corner? 

A. Over-compression in the cylinders, with valves having 
no relief. 

Q. What style of valve is specially addicted to pounding? 

A. The piston valve, by reason of the 'exhaust steam passing 
over its ends and exerting a force which will take up the lost 
motion in the gear suddenly; continuing the motion of the 
valve in the-direction in which it was going. 

Q. What is often the result of this pounding? 

A. Crystallizing and breaking valve stems and other parts, 
and causing irregularity in the steam distribution, as the valve 
Jumps and then stops. 

Q. What causes a piston valve to pound when the engine is 
drifting with the lever hooked up? 

A. Lack of compression, by reason of the valve being open 
for admission, and thus permitting the air which is being com- 
pressed to escape into the steam ways. 

Q. How may this pounding be stopped? 

A. By placing the lever in the corner or on the center; or 
better yet, by keeping the main-rod brasses filed. 

Q. Explain the difference in the pound of a loose piston and 
that of a loose driving box? 

A. The two are different, but sometimes confusing. The 
loose piston pound may be detected by watching the fit of the 
rod in the crosshead, and the sound is more to the forward 
end than that of a driving box. 

Q. How would yon locate a driving-box pound? 

A. Spot the engine with the crank on the upper quarter 'on 



KNOCKS AND POUNDS. 497 

the test side; block the wheels, have the fireman "thump" the 
engine. Watch the boxes to see if (i) they rock in the jaws 
between shoes and wedge, or if (2) the journal shakes in the 
box. Then test everything along the line of rods and of 
boxes. 

Q. At what part of the stroke does the main rod pound? 
A. Only at the end. 

Q. What is the cause of side rods pounding? 
A. (1) Wedges slack, wrongly set up, or having the wrong 
taper; (2) engine out of tram. 

Q. Will the side rod on a thrcc-zvhcel connected engine 
pound any more than that on a tzco-z^heel engine? 
A. Xot necessarily. 

Q. Why will an engine in good condition pound harder 
when passing the forward than the back center, when running 
ahead? 

A. When the pin passes the front center it pushes the main 
axle back against the box and jaw, which are moving forward 
with relation to the track ; on the back center the push is in the 
same direction as the box movement. 

0. What is the best position to place a crank pin in order 
to find a knock? 

A. The upward, because there it is freest to move, 

Q. What is the objection to bringing the crank pin doz^n- 
zvards to find a knock? 

A. It would be necessary to move the weight of the engine 
in order to find a knock or a thump in a driving box or a 
frame. 

Q. What is the objection to having the crank pin on either 
the front or the back center, in finding a knock or a thump? 

A. In that position, moving the reverse lever lets steam in at 
only one end of the cylinder. 



498 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

0. What are special causes of pounding on the back centers 
of a worn road engine? 

A. (i) Forward wear of shoes and boxes; (2) displace- 
ment of the valve stem, due to lost motion in the yoke, etc. 

0. What is the effect of this wear on distances between 
centers of parts? 

A. It lengthens the distance between the eccentrics and 
rocker pin. 

Q. What characterizes the pound caused by a loose pedestal 
brace or bolt? 

A. It takes place on only one center. 

Q. What is the usual wear of a main journal, that causes 
pounding? 

A. Flatted on one side, or oval. 

Q. // pound is in the wedges, how can you set them up and 
get them right the first trial? 

A. By pinching the wheels away from the wedges, screw- 
ing up the loose wedge, then trying if the box slides freely 
without shake ; then slacking off a trifle to keep the wedge 
from sticking when warm. 

Q. Will an engine pound if pedestal bolts are loose? If so, 
why? 

A. Yes, because the pedestal works loose and draws down 
the wedge. 



CHAPTER VII. 
COMPOUND LOCOMOTIVES. 

Q. What is a compound locomotive? 

A. One in which, as ordinarily used, the exhaust from one 
or more cylinders is made to do work in one or more other 
cylinders in what is called "two-stage" expansion, instead of 
escaping directly into the stack after one expansion. 

Q. How many cylinders may a compound locomotive have? 

A. There may be ( i ) two, one high-pressure* and the other 
low; or (2) two high-pressure and one low into which they 
both exhaust, or (3) one high-pressure and two low into 
which it exhausts, or (4) two high-pressure, each exhausting 
into a separate low-pressure; that is, four cylinders in all. 

COMPOUND VERSUS XOX-COMPOUXD. 

Q. What are the general advantages of compounding? 

A. To enable the steam to be expanded more times with- 
out causing such great range of temperature in one cylinder; 
to distribute more evenly the pressure due to expansion, thus 
lessening the variation of pressure on the crank-pins during 
a rotation ; to enable greater starting power and greater haul- 
ing power on grades, than could be obtained with cylinders 
of the comparatively small diameter required for non-com- 
pound engines ; to call for less work on the part of the boiler ; 
to save by the use of higher boiler pressure than would be 
possible with simple engines. Also, repair may be for some 
reasons less, by reason of the strains on the pins and axles 

* Hereafter, the abbreviations H. P. and L. P. \sill be used instead 
of the words high-pressure and low-pressure. 



500 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

being more even, and the boiler being less worked; and there 
is less cylinder condensation. 

Q. Considering that no engine can haul more than her ad- 
hesion to the rail will allow, and that almost any engine can 
slip her drivers, where does the-advantage of compounding in 
this particular come in? 

A. That by reason of the more regular pressure on the 
pins, due to more even distribution of the steam pressures at 
different piston positions, a compound will often, at slow 
speed and on steep grades, be able to keep the train going 
where the non-compound would slip and stall. The "bite" on 
the rails is more regular. 

Q. What may be said of the maximum average or mean 
effective pressure of the compound engine as compared with 
the non-compound, at slozv speeds and late cut-offs? 

A. It is lower. 

Q. Hozv is it with earlier cut-offs and higher speeds? 

A. The compound engine is about the same as the simple 
(non-compound). 

Q. If the compound engine is designed for the power neces- 
sary at high speed, when will it be apt to be lacking? 

A. At low speeds and late cut-offs. 

Q. Suppose we made the high-pressure cylinder large enough 
to take care of the heaviest work, what then? 

A. The engine would have too large cylinders for ordinary 
running. 

Q. What would be the disadvantage of having too much 
cylinder? 

A. When on straight levels, the mean pressure needed would 
be got with earlier cut-offs than is considered good practice 
with ordinary valve gear, and the final pressure in the large 
cylinder might be so low that it might be under that of the 
atmosphere. 



COMPOUND LOCOMOTIVES. 501 

Q. If we have the H.P. cylinder about the same size as for 
an ordinary locomotive, and the L. P. cylinder properly propor- 
tioned to this, what should be the increase in capacity and 
fuel economy in the compound over the non-compound engine? 

A. About five to ten per cent increase of hauling power, 
and ten per cent fuel saving. 

Q. Is re-evaporation of steam in the cylinders greater or 
less in compound than in simple engines? 
A. Much less. 

Q. Does this make dryer or wetter steam in the cylinders? 
A. Wetter. 

Q. Hozv about the steam coming from the stack, in the case 
of the compound? 

A. It is usually wetter than from a simple engine, not by 
reason of priming, but because it is not re-evaporated. 

Q. Hoz^ can this extra water be got rid of? 

A. By cutting small notches in the cylinder cocks so that 
they will always bleed a trifle; and more particularly by hav- 
ing on the "low" side what are called safety valves, but are 
properly automatic water-valves. 

Q. Is any special difference necessary in the slide valves 
for compound engines and those for non-compound locomo- 
tives? 

A. For compound working there is needed for the H. P. 
cylinder larger inside clearance (negative exhaust lap) by 
reason of its having ordinarily such considerable back pres- 
sure, and of the necessity of keeping its exhaust open as late 
as possible to prevent excessive cushion in that cylinder; and 
as with the same back pressure as in non-compounds there 
should not be in the L. P. cylinder a cushion pressure higher 
than the receiver pressure, the same excessive inside clear- 
ance is needful for the L. P. cylinder also. 



502 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. On a compound should the -fire be carried lighter or 
heavier than on a non-compound? 
A. Lighter, as the exhaust is milder. 

Q. How about the effect of the size of driving wheels on 
compounds on the mean effective pressure at high speeds? 

A. It is even greater than with non-compound engines, as 
compounds lose power more rapidly with speed increase than 
do non-compounds. 

, Q. Is balancing more or less difficult with compound than 
with non-compound engines? 

A. More, because of the larger and heavier pistons and all 
other reciprocating parts. 

Q. How about the exhaust from a compound, as com- 
pared zvith that from a simple engine? 

A. There being so much lower final pressure, the blast is 
softer; and (with two cylinders) there are but two instead 
of four exhausts in each turn, with a larger quantity of steam 
passed out. 

Q. What effect does this have on the fire? 

A. It is urged more evenly and gently, and less coal is 
pulled. 

Q. What is one advantage of the compound engine as re- 
gards regenerated steam? 

A. It utilizes better than the non-compound (or single- 
expansion) engine that steam which would be condensed 
against the cylinder walls of the H. P. cylinder; the walls of 
the L. P. cylinder not having a much lower temperature at the 
moment of expansion of steam than those of the H. P. 

Q. What objections are raised to compound locomotives 
from the point of view of the general management? 

A. That they miss trips by undergoing repairs, and fail on 
the road, so that the loss ensuing therefrom is greater than 
the gain by coal saving. 



CYLINDER RATIO. 508 

CYLINDER RATIO. 

Q. Which should have the greater volume, the H. P. or the 
L. P. cylinder?* 
A. The low. 

Q. How is this greater volume usually obtained? 

A. (i) By having the stroke the same in both the H. P. 
and the L. P. cylinders, and giving the latter greater diam- 
eter; or (2) by having two L. I. cylinders to one high. 

Q. What is the usual rule for the ratio {proportion) be- 
tween the H. P. and the L. P. cylinder volumes? 

A. There is no general rule ; a limit is placed by the maxi- 
mum diameter possible to give the L. P. cylinder. In two- 
cylinder compounds the L. P. cylinder may have from one 
and three-quarters to two and three-quarters times the area 
of the high. Perhaps about two and one-tenth is the usual and 
best ratio for the present stage of knowledge in this line. 

Q. How is the division of the work between the two cylin- 
ders regulated? 

A. By proper adjustment of the valve-gear. 

0. Could a compound be constructed, in which the propor- 
tion of expansions in the H. P. and the L. P. would be 
always the same, no matter in what gear? That is, where 
the cylinder ratios -would always be the most favorable for the 
pins? 

A. Xo ; if the L. P. cylinder had the proper area for cut- 
off at one-half in the H. P. it would have- too much mean ef- 
fective pressure when cut-off tock place later, too little when 
it took place earlier in the H. P. 

0. Which type of compound permits the most efficient cylin- 
der ratio? 

* Where there are two H. P. cylinders discharging into one low, or 
two L P. 's getting steam from one H. P. , the two are to be considered 
as one, as regards cylinder volume. 



504 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. The four-cylinder; but it usually has offsetting disad- 
vantages in the way of valve gear. 

Q. What are the usual two-cylinder {receiver) cylinder 
ratios? 

A. From 1.75 to 2.75 to 1 ; 2 to 2.4 giving the best results. 

Q. The usual four-cylinder ratios? 
A. About three to one. 

Q. Is the ratio the same for small as for large engines? 
A. No; it is greater for small ones. 

Q. Is it the same for freight as for passenger engines? 
A. No ; it is greater for passenger engines. 

Q. What are the limits of cylinder ratio for four-cylinder 
non-receiver compounds in which both sides are alike? 
A. From 2.J to 3.2. 

Q. Have European compounds greater or less cylinder vol- 
ume for a given hauling power than American? 

A. Greater, as a rule, despite the greater limitations there 
as regards clear space in bridges and tunnels. 

Q. What effect has the cylinder ratio on the L. P. cut-off? 
A. The smaller ratio requires later L. P. cut-off. 

Q. What is an objection to two-cylinder compound locomo- 
tives having the H. P. cylinder on one side and the low on the 
other, as in Fig. 325? 

A. It is difficult to get the power so divided between the 
two sides as to avoid racking the machinery and swinging the 
engine from side to side. 

Q. How can this difficulty be avoided and yet preserve the 
two-cylinder receiver type? 

A. By having on one side one H. P. cylinder, and on the 
other two L. P.'s of the same diameter as the H. P., one over 
the other and both taking hold of the same crosshead as in 
Fig. 321. (Lapage type.) 



CYLINDER RATIO. 



505 



Q. Hozi r may the work be equally divided between the H. P. 
and the L. P. cylinder ? 

A, Sufficiently evenly by adjusting the cut-offs; especially 
where the engines always run in one motion and have Stephen- 
son, Allan, Joy, Walschaert, or other positive motions. 

Q. What is the usual adjustment for this purpose ? 
A. (i) Changing the position of one link; (2) altering the 
link-hanger length or (3) off-setting one reverse-shaft arm. 




Fig. 321. Three-Cylinder Compound. 



Q. Where engines are to run in both directions^ how is the 
equal distribution of work effected? 

A. Where the cylinder ratios are favorable, and especially 
if steam economy is not too important, by giving the slide- 
valves different outside laps. 

Q. What diameter of L. P. cylinder is it practicable to get 
unth an outside-cylinder compound engine? 

A. Thirty-one inches, giving with a H. P. diameter of 
twenty, a piston-area ratio of nearly 2 Y / 2 to 1. 



506 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF COMPOUNDS. 

0. IV hat are the main classes as regards steam distribution 
into which locomotive compounds may be divided? 

A. As in stationary and marine engines into (i) "receiver" 
and (2) ik non-receiver/' "receiverless," "continuous expansion," 
or "Woolf."* 

0. On what is this classification based? 

A. In the receiver class, the steam from the H. P. cylinder 
or cylinders does not exhaust directly into the L. P., but into 
a large intermediate steam-tight space which communicates 
with both the H. P. and the L. P. cylinders ; being at first in 
communication only with the H. P., then with both, and lastly 
with the L. P. only.f 

RECEIVER COMPOUNDS. 

Q. Give a conventionalized or "elementary" indicator card 
from a single and single-acting receiver type compound en- 
gine? (That is, one having only two cylinders, each of which 
works with only one end.) 

A. Assuming entire lack of clearance (and hence of com- 
pression) instantaneous admission and exhaust exactly at 
stroke end, no wire drawing, and no irregularity caused by the 
connecting rod, something like this (Fig. 322) : 

The steam pressure in the H. P. cylinder rises suddenly from 
A to B. continues during so-called full steam, at chest pres- 
sure, falls regularly at cut-off (here at half stroke) to D at 
stroke-end; drops to receiver pressure at E (thereby causing 
loss of economy). From E to F- the pressure of this exhaust 
rises in the receiver until half stroke, where it is released from 
the receiver into the L. P. cylinder. From this on up to point 
A at half stroke, where the H. P. piston makes a new stroke, 

* Not to be confused with "Wolff " compounds, which have receivers. 
-(Note two f's instead of two o's.) 

•fThe number of H. P. or of L. P. cvlinders has here no significance. 



RECEIVER COMPOUNDS. 



507 



its pressure drops by reason of the H. P. cylinder's not sup- 
plying steam fast enough to the receiver. At A we will say 
that the L. P. valve cuts off receiver steam from the L. P. 




Drop 



Fig. 322. Theoretical Expansion Diagram. 

cylinder; hence from A to G, at stroke end, the pressure in 
this cylinder drops regularly by expansion. 

Q. What is the effect of the engine being double-acting 
instead of (as here shown) single-acting? 



125 
47 


L 


h — - — * 


B 


Chest Pressure 

/ 
/ 
/ 
/' / 

^ ^y 

^^y>y^ ^ 

K 


S Full Steam 

/ H.P. 

: s - 
F L.P. 


14.7 


ii 


Atmosphere 


j, 






Vacuum 





Fig 323. Theoretical Expansion Diagram. 

A. A rise of pressure at A in both receiver and L. P. cylin- 
der, caused by the exhaust from the opposite end. 



508 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. Suppose instead of cutting off at half stroke in the H. P. 
cylinder of the receiver engine, as in Fig. 323, reproduced here 
in dotted lines, steam is cut off at three-eighths stroke, as shown 
by full lines in Fig. 323; the low-pressure cut-off remaining 
unchanged; what will b-e the effect? 

A. The pressures in the receiver, and the L. P. initial and 
mean effective pressures, will do less than with H. P. cut-off at 
half stroke ; the H. P. does less work than before, but the per- 
centages done at different parts of the stroke are altered. For 
instance, more work is done in the first half (represented by 
the heavily-shaded space) the area of which is 100 as against 
80. In the second half-stroke the similarly-shaded space rep- 
resenting the work done in the H. P. cylinder at the earlier 
cut-off has an area of 35 against 50 with cut-off at half. The 
L. P. cylinder, however, does in the first half-stroke an amount 
represented by 35 as against 40 at half cut-off, and in the 
second an amount represented by only 10, as against 20 be- 
fore; total 135 high, 45 low, as against 130 high, 60 low. If 
now the L. P. is to balance the H. P. in the amount of work 
done/*- it must have for half cut-off 130 — 60 = the area ; for 
three-eighths cut-off, 135 — 45. 

Q. What effect has receiver pressure upon the engine bal- 
ance? 

A. As drop in receiver pressure decreases the proportion of 
work done by the L. P. cylinder, this may be employed in 
balancing the two cylinders ; this being effected by cutting off 
earlier in the H. P. than in the L>. P. cylinder. 

Q. What should be the receiver volume in comparison zvith 
that of the H. P. cylinder? 

A. The greater the better, as permitting better adjustment 
of cut-offs and less variation of receiver pressure. 

Q. What is the usual ratio? 

A. From 2.5 to 4.5 ; 2.5 being the minimum desirable. 



RECEIVER COMPOUNDS. 509 

Q. To keep the steam as dry as possible, what should be 
done with the receiver? 

A It is well to inclose it in the smoke-box. 

Q. How large should the receiver be? 

A. It should have a volume at least as great as that of the 
high-presssure cylinder, especially in the Worsdell and von 
Borries types, where the larger the receiver the better the 
action in starting. 

Q. Does relatively large receiver volume increase or dimin- 
ish the possibility of equalizing the relative amounts of work 
done by the two cylinders? 

A. Increase it. 

Q. Hon* closely do builders endeavor to balance the two 
cylinders for ordinary running? 
A. Within ten per cent. 

Q. How about balancing the work between the H. P. and 
L. P. cylinders in starting a train with a compound? 
A It is not to be expected. 

Q. Is the drop in receiver pressure a source of loss in effi- 
ciency? 
A. Yes. 

Q. Can it be removed? 

A. Only for one point of cut-off. 

0. Suppose that in a receiver engine the indicator cards 
show that more steam is used per stroke in the L. P. than in 
the H. P. cylinder; of what is that a sign? 

A. (i) Of leaky valves or (2) of re-evaporation in the re- 
ceiver, where this is situated in the smoke-box. 

Q. Is superheating in the receiver possible, as well as re- 
evaporation? 

A. No, there is no time therefor. 

Q. Suppose that the cards from a receiver engine shozv that 



510 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

the L. P. cylinder used less steam than the H. P.; of what is 
that a sign? 

A. Of condensation either in the receiver or in the L. P. 
cylinder. 

Q. In what cases is re-evaporation in the receiver most 
likely to occur f 

A. Where the receiver is in the smoke-box, especially if 
the tubes are short and the engine is working hard, which 
will give an especially high smoke-box temperature. 

Q. What about steam-jacketing the cylinders, or the re- 
ceiver in case this is outside the smoke-box? 

A. It proves no advantage, as there is as much steam con- 
densed in the jacket as there would have been in the receiver 
or cylinders. Further, steam jackets on locomotive work are 
troublesome to drain. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of putting the receiver in the 
hottest part of the smoke-box? 

A. Difficulty of tube cleaning. 

Q. What is the advantage of a receiver cross-compound? 

A. As the crank axle is connected with pistons traveling in 
opposite directions, good balancing in this particular; the in- 
side cranks are also partly balanced by the outside wrist-pins; 
other drivers than the main ones are counterbalanced for their 
own weight only ; the H. P. and L. P. pistons also nearly bal- 
ance each other; hence in general the vertical stresses on the 
rails are comparatively even. 

RECEIVERLESS COMPOUNDS. 

Q. As a general rule, do the H. P. and the L. P. pistons of 
receiverless engines move together or against each other? 

A. Together, as in the Vauclain (Baldwin) non-balanced 
four-cylinder engine and the Du Bousquet (French) type. 

Q. Give a "conventionalized" "elementary" or explanatory 
indicator card of a receiverless compound? 



NON-RECEIVER COMPOUNDS. 



511 



A. Supposing that the pistons are attached to the same 
crosshead and the conditions as laid down for the receiver en- 
gine in preceding paragraphs, we have a diagram somewhat 
like this (Fig. 324) : 

We have full H. P. steam from A to B: sharp cut-off at B, 
expansion from B to C , where H. P. exhaust opens : here a 
slight drop from C to D, as the H. P. exhaust fills the con- 




Fig. 324. Theoretical Expansion Diagram. 



necting passages (which constitute in effect a miniature re- 
ceiver) ; from D to E further expansion (this time in the H. P. 
cylinder plus the passage space) ; at E, opening of the L. P. 
valve for admission, hence further drop in pressure owing to 
insufficient supply from the H. P. cylinder and connecting 
passages. From F to G the two cylinders are in communi- 
cation, but the pressure drops, by reason of insufficient supply 
and of expansion, to K, when the L. P. valve cuts off. From 



512 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

G there are two simultaneous sets of results and pressures ; 
compression in the H. P. cylinder and connecting passages up 
to E, where the H. P. exhaust closes ; further compression in 
the H. P. cylinder not in connection with the passages, up to 
A, where admission again occurs ; expansion in the L. P. cy- 
linder up to K, where its valve opens and gives free exhaust 
nearly down to atmospheric pressure, at stroke end (point L) . 
The area of the H. P. card is 275, that of the low 130, call- 
ing for piston areas in inverse proportion, to do equal work at 
half cut-off. 

Q. Why is this called "continuous" expansion? 

A. Because there is no point at which the expansion ceases, 
as where the steam in the receiver can at times be cut off from 
one or the other of the cylinders. 

Q. What are the special characteristics of the "elementary" 
or "conventional" diagram of the receiverless engine? 

A. The drops in pressure in the middle and at the end of the 
H. P. expansion line, and the excessive H. P. cushion. 

Q. How may the drop in the middle of the H. P. expansion 
curve be lessened? 

A. (1) By having the same pressure in the connecting pas- 
sages as in the H. P. cylinder, w T hen the H. P. exhaust opens, 
or (2) by reduction of the volume of those passages. 

Q. Hozv can the receiver pressure be made the same as that 
in the H. P. cylinder at the moment of H. P. exhaust opening? 

A. By suitable adjustment of the L. P. cut-off — a compli- 
cated method, not to be recommended. 

Q. Hozv can the H.P. drop at stroke end be lessened? 

A. (1) By compressing in the L. P. cylinder to the pressure 
in the H.P. before the drop; or (2) by reducing the L. P. 
clearance. 

Q. In which class does the H. P. compression give the most 
trouble; in receiver or in receiverless engines; and why? 



NON-RECEIVER COMPOUNDS. * 513 

A. Ill receiverless; since to avoid excessive cushion it is 
necessary to have large H. P. clearance space ; as the pressure 
at exhaust closure is already high. 

Q. What does avoidance of excessive H. P. cushion, by hav- 
ing large H. P. clearance, entail? 

A. The before-mentioned drop at the moment of opening 
the H. P. exhaust. 

Q. What is a help in this connection? 

A. Giving the H. P. valve inside clearance (negative inside 
lap). 

Q. Why are late cut-offs usually recommended for receiver- 
less engines? 

A. They obviate excessive cushion and wire drawing. 

Q. What is the objection thereto? 

A. With light loads the steam must be throttled ; and here 
wire drawing steps in. 

Q. Is wire drawing more or less disadvantageous in com- 
pound engines than in non-compound? 

A. More. 

Q. How can high expansion rate be secured in a receiverless 
compound, without excessively early cut-off? 

A. By having a comparatively large L. P. cylinder. 

Q. What is the objection to this? 

A. Only that at high speeds the wire drawing and cushion 
modify the desired result. 

Q. At what speeds does the actual mean effective pressure 
most nearly approach the calculated? 

A. Low ; for instance, it is sometimes, even with an excel- 
lent gear, and 175 pounds boiler pressure at 200 turns per 
minute, only 65 per cent that at 100; at 300, only 42 per cent; 
at 400, only 30 per cent. 

Q. What is the effect on the draw-bar pull, of reduction of 
mean effective pressure with increased speed? 



514 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. It decreases ; for instance, with an extraordinarily good 
gear, where it was 19,000 pounds at ten miles an hour, it was 
only 12,000 at forty, and 5,000 at eighty. With a poor 
gear it ran down from 18,500 at ten miles to 3,250 at eighty. 

Q. In the case of decrease of mean effective pressure due to 
increase of speed, does the pozver used up by engine and tender 
form a constant percentage of the total power developed? 

A. No ; at high speeds the engine and tender use up a much 
greater proportion. For instance, in one case reported, with 
ordinary valve gear, the engine and tender used only 10 per 
cent of the total power at twenty miles an hour, but 80 per 
cent at eighty miles. 

Q. Hozv about balancing the work between the H. P. and 
the L. P. cylinders of a non-receiver compound? 

A. It is not necessary in the four-cylinder tandem type, as 
the set of cylinders on one side balance those on the other. 
It is, however, quite necessary in the Vauclain "cross com- 
pound" because both H. P. and L. P. pistons take hold of the 
same crosshead ; and here not only the mean effective pressures 
for the entire stroke but the effective pressures at various 
points of the stroke must balance at least so well that there 
will be no more twist on the Vauclain crosshead than with 
non-compounds with the Laird type. 

ADVANTAGES OF THE TWO-CYLINDER TYPES. 

Q. What is the special advantage of the two-cylinder type? 
A. Simplicity. 

Q. What are the objections thereto? 

A. (1) The immense size necessary for the low-pressure 
cylinder; (2) the difficulty of having the total crank-pin press- 
ure on the two sides alike, especially when working non-com- 
pound (this increasing with the size of the machine, and the 
speed) ; (3) in many cases the maximum permissible L. P. 



TWO-CYLINDER COMPOUNDS. 515 

cylinder diameter is too limited; (4) the cost of the starting 
device. 

Q. How can the total pressure be nearly equally divided in 
the two-cylinder compound? 

A. By cutting off earlier in the high-pressure cylinder than 
in the low. 

Q. How may excessive cushion, especially in the high-press- 
ure cylinder, be avoided in this two-cylinder type? 

A. By giving rather more than usual inside valve clearance, 
lead, and cylinder clearance. 

Q. In the two-cylinder or "cross compound^ as well as in 
the three-cylinder compound, -where does the exhaust from the 
H. P. cylinder go? 

' A. First into a receiver (either a chamber or a pipe and 
usually in the smoke arch) and then (after being there some- 
what reheated by the combustion gases, if the receiver is in 
the smoke-box) to the L. P. cylinder or cylinders. 

Q. What is the cause of the usual rise in L.P. and receiver 
pressure shortly after stroke commencement , in a two-cylinder 
receiver compound? 

A. The opposite H. P. end exhausts then, and thus raises 
the pressure both in receiver and in L. P. cylinder. 

Q. What is this action called? ~ 
A. Re-admission. 

Q. Why is it usual? 

A. Because the H. P. cannot exhaust later than nine-tenths 
stroke, nor can the L. P. cut off earlier than three-tenths. 

Q. How many different pressures are there at once in the 
cylinders of a tzvo-cylinder u cross compound'' or of the two 
that zvork together in a tandem? 

A. Three ; ( 1 ) the working pressure of the H. P. cylinder, 
(2) the exhaust pressure of the H. P. (which is practically 



516 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

equal to the working pressure of the L. P.), and (3) the 
exhaust pressure of the L. P. 



SPECIAL TWO-CYLINDER TYPES. 

Q. What are the principal types of two-cylinder receiver 
compounds? 

A. (1) With automatic "intercepters" or starting gears but 
without independent H. P. exhaust for starting: the von 
Borries of, 1899, tne von Borries-Swiss, the Worsdell, the 
Schenectady (Pitkin), the Dean, the Brooks (Player), the 
Rogers, the Baldwin (Vauclain), and the intermediate types 
of von Borries. 

(2) With automatic starter but no intercepter nor indepen- 
dent H. P. exhaust for starting: the Lindner, the Meyer-Lind 
ner, the C. B. & Q. Lindner, the Pennsylvania Railroad Lind- 
ner, the Cooke, and the Golsdorf. 

(3) With intercepter and independent H. P. exhaust at 
starting: the Mallet (old and new), the Rhode Island (Batch 
ellor), the Richmond (Mellin), the Pittsburg (Colvin), and 
the latest von Borries. 

Q. What were the essential characteristics of the original 
von Borries two-cylinder receiver compound of 1899? 

A. A combined intercepting and starting valve which, when 
the engine is working compound, permits steam to flow from 
the receiver pipe into which the high-pressure cylinder 
exhausts, to the low-pressure cylinder. There is a plate which 
in these circumstances stands off from the end of the receiver 
pipe, but on starting, is seated on that pipe-end ; its movement 
uncovering ports which let steam from the boiler enter the 
low-pressure cylinder. As the engine starts, the high-pressure 
exhaust automatically forces this intercepting valve from its 
seat on the end of the receiver pipe, and closes the ports, which 
let boiler steam into the low-pressure cylinder, so that the) 
engine then works compound. (See Figs. 325, 326, and 327.) 






TWO-CYLINDER COMPOUNDS. 



51? 



Q. How much of a rotation takes place before the high- 
pressure exhaust opens the intercepting valve and closes the 
starting valve? 

A. From one-half to one rotation. 



Steaaa Pipe 




Fig 3 2 5 Two-Cylinder Compound. 




To L.P. Cyl. 
Fig. 326. Intercepting Valve, 



518 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. Can these locomotives ever work "simple"? 

A. No, because the high-pressure cylinder always exhausts 
into a closed receiver, never into the open air direct. 

Q. Describe the modified von Borries two-cylinder receiver 
engine, as used in Switzerland? 

A. This has an automatic starting valve (such as is seen in 
Figs. 328, 329) where the receiver pipe joins the L .P. cylin- 
der. When the engine requires to be started with help from 



3\ Steam Pipe 




Fig. 327. Two-Cylinder Receiver Compound. 

the driver (say when with the H. P. piston on a center ) # live 
steam passes through the auxiliary steam pipe and acting on 
the lower end of the spindle S raises the valve V to the posi- 
tion V lf against a seat. The spindle in raising opens small 
ports p, p t under the valve V l9 letting live steam into the L. P. 
cylinder. The first H. P. exhaust throws down the valve V 
and lets the H. P. exhaust from the receiver enter the L. P. 
cylinder. A piston P, working in a cylinder C in steam con- 
nection with the receiver, insures the closing down of V. 



TWO-CYLINDER COMPOUNDS. 



519 



Q. What characterizes the Worsdell system? 

A. The intercepting valve is a flap, which when the engine 
is working compound swings down to one side of the inter- 
cepting-valve chamber and leaves the passage from the 
receiver to the low-pressure cylinder free. The action of 
steam on a small piston controlled by the starting valve swings 
~E3 




\To L.F. 




Fig. 328. 
Automatic Starting Valve. 



Fig. 329. 
Automatic Starting Valve. 



the intercepting-valve up to a position at which it closes the 
receiver pipe ; at the same time a port is opened, letting steam- 
chest steam direct to the low-pressure cylinder. When the 
high-pressure cylinder exhausts, it pushes back the intercept- 
ing-valve and cuts off the supply of high-pressure steam from 
the low-pressure cylinder (Fig. 326). 

Q. In the Worsdell and the von Borries compounds, how 
about the starting power? 



520 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. When boiler-pressure steam is let into the receiver by 
the starting-valve, and the intercepting-valve thereby closed, 
the high-pressure piston starts out against a pressure in the 
receiver, which varies with the time that the engine has been 
standing, and with the condition of valves, etc. 




Fig. 330. Two-Cylinder Compound. 

Q. In this type of engine, supposing that the crank starts 
at a dead point on the high-pressure side, how long will the 
engine move before it commences to zvork compound? 

A. About three-quarters of a rotation. 

Q. If the high-pressure piston is near the cut-off point, on 
starting up, where zvill compound zvorking commence? 

A. Usually after about seven-sixteenths of a rotation, 
depending on the position of the intercepting valve. 



THREE-CYLINDER COMPOUNDS. 521 

Q. Suppose the crank on the high-pressure side is in the 
position where the admission is cut off, how will starting be 
effected? 

A. By the low-pressure cylinder alone, at least until the 
piston has reached a dead point, and then the engine will 
work compound for about seven-sixteenths of a rotation. 

Q. Then in general what may be said to be the starting 
power of compounds of the Worsdell and von Borries types, 
as compared with simple engines having cylinders of the same 
area as the high-pressure cylinders of the compounds? 

A. During the first half revolution the compounds have the 
greater starting power; after that it diminishes until it is but 
80 to 85 per cent of that of the simple. 

THREE-CYLINDER COMPOUNDS. 

Q. What are the principal three-cylinder compound types? 

A. (1) With two cranks: the Lapage, where there are one 
H. P. cylinder and two L. P., all of the same diameter and 
all outside. 

(2) With three cranks: (a) the French Northern, with one 
H. P. inside and two L. P. outside; (b) the Rickie, with two 
H. P. outside and one L. P. inside. 

(3) The Webb, where there are two H. P. outside, driving 
one axle, and one L. P. inside, driving another axle, and with 
no parallel rods. 

Q. What may be said of the steam distribution in the three- 
cylinder types? 

A. It is essentially the same as in a two-cylinder "double- 
expansion" receiver engine. 

Q. What is the difference between a three-cylinder locomo- 
tive and the triple-expansion stationary or marine engine? 

A. In the three-cylinder locomotive there are but two stages 
of expansion; either the exhaust of the H. P. engine splits 



522 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

and goes into two separate L. P. cylinders which act alike, or 
the exhaust from two H. P. cylinders goes into one L. P.; in 
either case there are but two "steps" or "stages". to the expan- 
sion, whether there be a receiver or not. In a marine or sta- 
tionary triple-expansion engine which has three cylinders, 
there are three successive expansion stages ; the H. P. cylinder 
exhausting into the intermediate, this in turn into the L. P. 
cylinder, which may discharge either into the air or into a 
condenser. 

Q. What is the advantage of having three cylinders for 
only two expansion stages? 

A. Expansion may be carried further than with only one 
low; the work may be more evenly distributed, and weights 
better placed. 

Q. What are the disadvantages? 

A. Complication, high first cost, and subsequent mainte- 
nance. 

Q. What systems have two H. P. cylinders and one L. P.? 
A. The Webb, in use on the London and North- Western 
Railway, and the Rickie. 

Q. How are the cylinders, etc., arranged in the Webb type? 

A. The H. P. cylinders are outside the frames and have 
their centers about four feet back of the front tube-sheet. 
Their pistons actuate the second drive pair. The L. P. cylin- 
der is between the frames, and its piston is connected to the 
forward .drivers by a cranked axle. The exhaust from the 
outside cylinders passes around the smoke-box to the L. P. 
steam chest, which is on top. There are no coupling rods 
where there are but two pairs of drivers. 

Q. Describe the Schenectady (Pitkin) compound? 

A. Fig. 332 shows a front elevation, partly in vertical cross 
section, showing the cylinders, their saddles, the smoke-box, 
the reservoir, intercepting valve and steam passages ; Fig. 333 



THREE-CYLINDER COMPOUNDS. 



523 



is a horizontal cross section through the intercepting valve 
and other valves relating thereto on the line 2. 2 of Figs. 33J 
and 334, showing the relation of parts when the intercepting 
valve is open. Fig. 335 shows a similar view of some of the 
same parts in the position which they take when the intercept- 




^32. Front Elevation (partly in Vertical Cross Section 
Schenectady Compound- 
ing valve is closed. Fig. 334 shows a vertical lengthwise sec- 
tion through the intercepting valve on the line 4, 4 of Fig. 
335, with the valve open ; this figure being also a section on 
the line 3, 3 of Fig. 332. Fig. 336 is a vertical cross section 



>24 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



On Lino 2-2 




Fig. 333- Schenectady Intercepting Valve in Compound Position. 

through the regulating and intercepting valve-working divi- 
sion on the line 5, 5 of Figs. 333 and 334. Fig. 337 is a 
similar section on the line 6, 6 of the same figures. Fig. 338 
is a vertical lengthwise section through the regulating divi- 



On Line 2-2 




Fig. 334. Schenectady Compound, Working both Cylinders with 
Live Steam (see page 528). 



SCHENECTADY COMPOUND. 



sion on the line 7, 7 of Figs. 332,, 336 and 337; Fig. 339, a 
vertical cross section through the intercepting valve on the 
line 8, 8, of Fig. 335. The feathered arrows show the course 
of the steam; the short unfeathered darts in Fig. 333 show 







Fi g- 335- Section of Schenectady Compound Intercepting Valve. 

the movements of the regulating valve and the actuating 
piston of the intercepting valve. Fig. 332 shows a smoke-box 
A on saddles B, C connected respectively with a high-pressure 



526 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



cylinder D and a low-pressure cylinder E, on opposite sides 
of the engine and having suitable pistons and induction and 
eduction ports (not shown). The exhaust-port of the high- 
pressure cylinder is connected by a pipe (shown in dotted 
lines in Fig. 332), with a reservoir F, the other end of 
which connects with the inlet pipe E of the low-pressure 
cylinder, in which the intercepting valve G is placed, and 
across which it reciprocates to open or close this passage. The 
intercepting valve and the apparatus which belong thereto are 
shown as mounted on the saddle C of the low-pressure cylin- 




ON LINE 6-6. 




Fig s - 33^ an d 337. Sections of Schenectady Compounds. 

der, while the live-steam connections and high-pressure exhaust 
divisions are on the other saddle B. The low-pressure exhaust 
pipe E 2 lies centrally between them. The intercepting valve G 
consists of two pistons G 1 G 2 , Figs. 333, 334, 335, mounted 
at suitable distances apart, and in fixed relation to each 
other, on a stem g, and having a lengthwise perforation g 1 
for the passage of the live steam through these valves or 



ON LINE 7-7 





ON LINE 8-8 



Figs. 338 and 339. Sections of Schenectady Compounds. 

pistons. These valves traverse endwise a cylindrical chest C 1 , 
which has ports c A c 2 opening into the low-pressure inlet pipe 
E 1 , and with bearings c therein, in which the piston head G 2 



SCHENECTADY COMPOUND. 527 

traverses ; these bearings forming, in fact, part of the valve 
cylinder. A port or opening e in this valve cylinder lets live 
steam into the low-pressure cylinder direct, beneath the inter- 
cepting valve, while the pressure of the steam in the reservoir 
from the high-pressure cylinder acts in the opposite direction 
and on the upper side of the intercepting valve when closed; 
so that the live steam, which gives the greater pressure, tends 
to compensate any looseness in the fitting of the valve by 
pressing it upward against its seat when closed, and thus to 
prevent leakage of live steam into the reservoir. 

The piston rod H, connected with the intercepting valve, 
passes through suitable stuffing boxes h h 1 in the heads of the 
valve chest and of a separate cylinder I, provided with a piston 
H 1 , which operates the intercepting valve. This actuating 
cylinder / has inlet ports i i 1 and an exhaust port r. The 
entrance of steam into this cylinder is controlled by the slide 
valve K 1 on a stem K, carrying pistons K K sliding in a cham- 
ber K 2 . Steam is let into this cylinder through ports y, y 1 , 
and y 2 , the first two admitting steam between the two pistons, 
w T hile the other admits it to act on the outer end of the larger 
piston K 1 , which latter is made larger than the other in order 
to insure its movement in the proper direction at the proper- 
time. Live steam from the boiler passes through a pipe L 
directly to the high-pressure cylinder. A branch pipe L 1 from 
this pipe connects with a port I of an auxiliary regulating 
chamber M, provided with a piston valve m called a "regulat- 
ing valve" and traversing the inlets ; y 1 of the regulating 
chamber K 2 , to open or close them at the proper times. The 
pipe M 1 connects the reservoir F and its induction pipe E 1 
with this auxiliary pipe M. and with the port y' 2 . Fig. 338, of 
the chamber K 2 , which has at its piston end an outlet y 3 for 
the escape of steam or water which may leak into that end of 
the chamber. The outlet r of this chamber is contracted, as 
shown in Fig. 336, or provided with means for regulating the 



528 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

escape of the steam therefrom, so as to prevent the slamming 
of the piston H 1 and of the intercepting valve actuated thereby. 
A valve chamber M contains a poppet valve M 1 , having two 
seats n n 1 and a stem N 2 , projecting outside the valve cham- 
ber. A port n 2 admits steam to this valve chamber from the 
live-steam branch pipe L 1 , and a passage n 3 permits its escape 
into the intercepting valve cylinder C 1 and thence through the 
port e, to the low-pressure cylinder E below the intercepting 
valve. 

An elbow lever O, rocking on a fulcrum o y has its longer 
arm so formed as to embrace pins o 1 on the piston rod H of 
the intercepting valve. The other arm o 2 of this lever forms 
a tappet or wiper which acts at the proper time on the stem 
of the poppet valve N 1 to open it. This valve has its outer 
member of larger area than its inner, the excess of pressure 
on its outer end tending to keep it closed when released from 
the wiper o 2 . The relation of the wiper and valve-stem may 
be controlled either by adjusting the collar on its piston rod 
or adjusting the wiper. 

Q. What is the normal relation of the parts when working 
as a compound engine? 

A. As shown in Figs. 333 and 334, in which the intercept- 
ing valve is opened and the admission of steam to the low- 
pressure cylinder, except through the high-pressure cylinder 
reservoir and induction port E 1 , is cut off. 

Q. How is it arranged to work both cylinders with live 
steam? 

A. The throttle valve is opened, permitting live steam to 
pass through the branch pipe L 1 and port I, and the auxiliary 
or regulating chamber M, the valve m of which it forces to 
the right (see Fig. 338), so as to open the port / and let 
steam pass into the valve chamber K 2 , between its pistons 
K K. The right-hand piston K 1 , being larger than the other, 
the steam pressure forces them to the right from the position 



SCHENECTADY COMPOUND. 529 

shown in Fig. 333, to that shown in Fig. 335. This causes 
the slide valve K 1 to uncover the ports % of the cylinder I, 
which in turn forces the piston H 1 to the right, closing the 
ports G 1 G 2 of the intercepting valve, as shown in Fig. 333. 
The relation of the ports is such that as the intercepting valve 
closes, the wiper o 2 strikes the stem .V 2 of the poppet valve N 1 
and opens it, thus letting live steam pass from the pipe L 1 
through the passages ;r 11 s into the intercepting valve cylinder 
and through the port e therein to the low-pressure cylinder E 
below the intercepting valve, thus operating it with the full 
pressure of the live steam. The intercepting valve, as before 
remarked, is already closed, and the tendency of the live steam 
is to press it upward in its seat, so as to prevent any leakage 
into the receiver and consequent back pressure upon the high- 
pressure cylinder. The perforations g 1 in the intercepting 
valve prevent the steam from exerting any endwise pressure 
upon it in either direction, and it is consequently entirely 
dependent upon the action of the live steam upon its piston H 1 
in the actuating cylinder /. The intercepting valve should 
have sufficient lap to move slightly beyond its closing point, 
in order that the opening of the supply-valve X 1 may not take 
place until the intercepting valve is fully closed, the tappet o 2 
being correspondingly adjusted. 

0. When it is desired to change from direct to compound 
action, what is done? 

A. The live steam is cut off from the knv-pressure cylinder. 
The pressure in the receiver and the induction pipe E 1 then 
soon becomes sufficient to force steam through the return pipe 
M 1 into the auxiliary chamber M and force the regulating 
piston valve m into its seat, thus closing the ports / and j and 
simultaneously opening the port j 1 . The steam then passes 
through this last-named port and the port j 2 to opposite sides 
of the larger piston K 1 ', the result of which is to force the 
slide valve k 1 to the left in the position shown in Fig. 332, 



530 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

which opens the exhaust i 2 and the inlet i 1 of the cylinder / 
and forces the piston H 1 to the left, thereby opening the inter- 
cepting valve. This movement of the piston H 1 detaches the 
wiper o 2 from the poppet valve N 1 and allows it to close 
quickly before the intercepting valve opens. The parts having 
thus resumed the position shown in Fig. 333, the engine 
resumes its compound working. 

Q. Under zvhat conditions will the intercepting valve be 
opened automatically? 

A. (1) Whenever the pressure in the receiver is sufficient 
to overcome that of the live steam in the auxiliary regulating 
valve; (2) even when the steam is cut off, as in the case of a 
locomotive on a down grade, should there be sufficient exhaust 
from the high-pressure cylinder to cause the requisite pressure 
in the receiver. 

Q. State briefly the general plan of working of the Sche- 
nectady compound engine, without going into details? 

A. The opening of the throttle admits live steam simul- 
taneously to both the H. P. and the L. P. cylinders, and 
by means of this same live steam acting through a mech- 
anism separate and distinct from the intercepting valve itself, 
the latter is automatically closed and the engine starts with 
its full power as a simple or non-compound engine. The 
steam pressure thus caused in the receiver acts through the 
auxiliary regulating valve m upon the slide valve k 1 and opens 
the intercepting valve, mechanism connected with which 
releases the valve controlling the admission of live steam to 
the low-pressure cylinder, which valve automatically closes 
itself, thus causing the parts to resume their compound 
working. 

O. Describe the intercepting and reducing valves of the 
Baldwin two-cylinder cross-compound 'engine? 

A. Referring to Figs. 340 and 341, A is the intercepting 
valve, which consists of two pistons connected by a distance 



BALDWIN CROSS COMPOUND. 



531 



piece, C the reducing valve ; both are in the H. P. saddle 
casting. A directs the H. P. exhaust either direct into the 
stack or into the L. P. cylinder, at the will of the engine- 
man. C lets reduced-pressure live steam into the L. P. cylinder 
when working non-compound, but closes automatically when 
working compound. It also equalizes the pressure on the 
two pistons. Both valves are spring-seated and opened by 
steam pressure from pipes D, controlled from the cab. The 
port E, putting the large end of the reducer in communica- 
tion with the receiver, is under the poppet valve F, which is 
open when working compound ; the poppet G being meanwhile 



Recei' 



Live Steam. 




To Cab 



Fig. 340. Intercepting Valve in Simple Position. 

automatically held closed. The reducing valve closes the 
steam passage H between the H. P. live-steam passage and 
the receiver, when there is too much pressure in the latter. 

Fig. 340 shows the positions of the two valves for non-com- 
pound, Fig. 341 for compound running. Fig. 342 shows the 
receiver and the steam pipe in the front end ; the live and ex- 
haust steam courses for compound running being shown by 
arrows. 



532 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. Describe the later or intermediate von Borries inter- 
cepterf 

A. As shown in Fig. 343, it is in the side of the smoke-box 
and joined at A to the live steam pipe. Live steam passes 
into C, pressing the spindle D into the position shown (thus 
closing the main valve V) and enters the chamber B, in com- 
munication with the receiver and the L. P. chest. Live steam 



Sfc 


•& 8 


U 


«1 

ri 


8 tf 


1* 

« 2 




Pipe to Operating 
Valve in. Cab 



Fig. 341. Intercepting Valve in Compound Position. 

also acts through F against the piston E ; but because of the 
greater area of the main valve V, when the H. P. cylinder 
exhausts into A the pressure balances that in the receiver, 
and as E has more area than the shoulder of D, the main valve 
/ ' is moved to the right, the H. P. exhaust opened to the re- 
ceiver and the openings F closed by the large part of D. 
Q. What is the Hughes or Lindner starting valve? 



LINDNER STARTING VALVE. 



533 



A. There is a cock by which boiler-pressure steam may be 
admitted into the receiver from the main steam-pipe, when 
the valve motion is either in full forward or in full back- 
ward gear; and there are in the high-pressure slide valve two 




L.P, 



Fig. 342. Baldwin Two-cylinder Compound. 

small ports, which when the valve covers the end port, after 
cut-off, connect that end of the slide valve with the exhaust 
side of the valve and hence with the receiver ; so that low- 
pressure steam is let into that end of the high-pressure cy- 
linder which is covered by the slide valve, thus partially 
equalizing the pressures on the two sides of the low-pressure 



534 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



cylinders, reducing the effective back pressure on the high- 
pressure piston, and lessening the resistance in starting in 
those piston positions between cut-off and stroke end, at full 



gear. 




Fig. 343. Von Borries Intercepting Valve. 

Q. What precaution should be taken with this arrange- 
ment? 

A. To have a safety valve on the receiver, to prevent the 
back pressure on the high-pressure piston being increased, 
.which would lessen the power of the high-pressure cylinder 



RICHMOND COMPOUND. 535 

111 the same proportion as that in the low-pressure was in- 
creased. 

THE RICHMOND (MELLIN) COMPOUND. 

Q. Describe the course of the steam on the Richmond com- 
pound engine, working compound? 

A. Referring to Fig. 344 : the course from the boiler to the 



Boiler Steam 



Emergency. 
Steam Pipe 




Fig. 344. Richmond Two-cylinder Compound, 
cylinders and then to the exhaust, is shown by arrows ; from 
the dry pipe, down the main steam pipe at the right of the 
figure to the H. P. chest and cylinder; thence to the horse- 
shoe-shaped receiver pipe in front of the main steam pipe to 
the intercepting valve, thence to the L. P. chest and cylinder. 



B36 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. Describe the intercepting valve? 

A. Referring to Fig. 346, where it is shown in compounding 
position: the passage G is open to the L. P. cylinder and to 



^ 'A "Main Exhaust 



Emergency 
Exhaust 



m/mmmm 



'WMMMM/Mlffl 






m 



Fig. 345* Simple Position of Intercepting Valve. 



Atmosphere 





i 

AmmmzzmM 



Fig. 346. Compound Position of Intercepting Valve. 



RICHMOND COMPOUND. 537 

the receiver F. In starting, however, the machine starts au- 
tomatically as a double H. P. engine, as live steam passes 
into the port C from the passage A, and enters the L. P. cy- 
linder. There being no pressure in the receiver pipe it offers 
no resistance to the pressure in C on the shoulder E of the re- 
ducing valve L (at the left of the cut) which is a sleeve on 
the stem of the reducing valve V. This latter pressure moves 
the valve L ± and with it the intercepter V 1 to the right as 
shown in the cut; letting steam at a reduced pressure to the 
L. P. chest G (Fig. 347) closing the receiver F by the intercept- 
ing valve V , After one or more turns the receiver pipe F 
is under H. P. exhaust pressure, which forces V to the left, 
closes the reducer L, cuts off the steam from the port C and 
opens the passage from the receiver to the L. P. chest as 
shown in Fig. 346. 

Q. What is done when maximum draw-bar pull (not at 
starting) is needed? 

A. Steam is let by a three-way cock to the piston of the 
emergency valve H, holding it open against its spring ; this ex- 
hausts the cavity J, where the pressure is equalized with that 
of the receiver F through holes in the right of V. This latter 
being thus unbalanced is forced to the right, taking with it 
the reducer L } which takes steam by the shoulder E. The H. 
P. cylinder then exhausts directly into the main exhaust pas- 
sage through the emergency exhaust, as seen in Fig. 347. The 
reducer L being open, the L. P. chest and cylinder get live 
steam (at reduced pressure, however) from the port C. 

Q. When running shut off what is necessary? 

A. To let air from one L. P. steam port to the other. 

0. Hozv is this done? 

A. By "over-pass valves" in the cylinder casting under the 
steam chest (Fig. 347). These are piston valves with conical 
seats, the two end ports communicating with the steam chest. 



538 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. Describe the operation of these valves, in running (i) 
with throttle open (2) with it shut? 

A. As seen in Fig. 347, the chest pressure through ports A A 
closes the passage, with the valves, against their springs, when 
the throttle is open. But when the throttle is closed the 
vacuum in the chest, helped by the spring between the valves, 
forces these latter apart and away from their seats (Fig. 348). 




ENGINE RUNNING WITHOUT THROTTLE OPEN 

Figs. 347 and 348. 

Q. Describe the intercepting arrangements of the Richmond 
Locomotive and Machine Works (Mellin) two-cylinder com- 
pound engine? 

A. As shown in Figs. 349 to 352 inclusive, there is an in- 



RICHMOND COMPOUND. 



539 



tercepting valve, / V , a reducing- valve, R V , and an emer- 
gency valve, E V ; all in the same axial line. 

The intercepting-valve / V , which is of the unbalanced 
double-poppet type, controls the passage of steam to the L. P. 
cylinder from the receiver R. It bears on its stem a piston 
P which plays in a dash-pot to prevent slamming ; also a sleeve 
R V , serving as a reducing valve. 

This latter has lengthwise motion on the stem of the inter- 




Fig. 349- Richmond (Mellin) Compound Position in Starting 
at Maximum Pressure in Steam-Chest. 

cepting valve, while playing steam tight in a bored cavity T 
as well as on the stem of the intercepting valve / V. It has 
on the end next the intercepting valve an enlarged portion 
which plays steam tight in an enlarged bore Q. The function 
of this reducing valve R V is to admit live steam at reduced 
pressure from the passage C (which is in connection with the 
dry pipe) to the low-pressure cylinder' through the passage G. 
'The emergency valve E V is a plain, bevel-seated wing 
valve, controlling an opening to the main exhaust from a 
chamber /, which is in communication with the receiver 
through small holes / in the small disk of the intercepting 
valve IV. The emergency valve is normally closed to the 



540 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



main exhaust by a spring, aided by the receiver pressure in /. 
It may be opened by the engineman by admitting steam at 
full boiler pressure through the three-way cock W , in the cab. 

Q, Where is the receiver? 

A. In the smoke-box. 

Q. What is the action in starting automatically? 

A. Steam from the boiler goes to the H. P. cylinder in 
the ordinary way; also to the port C through a 2^ -inch steam 
pipe connected with the dry pipe. When the throttle is opened, 

J4M from dry pipe 

rn 

RECEIVER ^ 




Fig. 35°- Richmond (Mellin) Compound. Position in 
Starting Automatically. 

there is no pressure in the receiver R, and the pressure on the 
shoulder E of the reducing valve R V moves the reducing 
valve, and with it the intercepting valve, to the right (as 
shown in Fig. 352), closing the receiver R, and letting re- 
duced-pressure steam into the L. P. steam chest G. 

The end B of the sleeve R V being about twice that of the 
shoulder E, half of the boiler pressure then moves this sleeve 
to the left, cutting off the access of steam from port C and 
equalizing the total pressure on the two pistons, by giving the 
L. F. piston a proportionately lower pressure per square inch, 



RICHMOND COMPOUND. 



541 



At say i l / 2 revolutions, pressure which has accumulated in 
the receiver 7? (by reason of the exhaust from the H. P. cy- 
linder) acts on the large face of the intercepting valve IV, 
and moves it to the left, as shown in Fig. 351, carrying with 
it the sleeve or reducing valve R V , and thus opening a straight 
connection between the H. P. exhaust passage and the L. P. 
steam chest, while permanently cutting off live steam from the 
port C. 




Fig. 351. Richmond (Mellin) Compound. Position in Working 
Compound. 

Q. What is the action in starting on grades, or elsezvhere 
running zuith maximum power? 

A. The engineman opens the three-way cock W, admitting 
steam behind the piston on the emergency valve E V , and 
holding it open against its spring 5\ This permits exhaust 
of the cavity /; and the intercepting valve I V , being then un- 
balanced, moves (taking with it the sleeve reducing valve 
R V) to the right; being aided in this by the steam pressure on 
the shoulder E of the sleeve. This gives the H. P. cylinder a 
separate exhaust around the end of the intercepting valve I V, 
through the emergency valve E V, into the main exhaust pas- 
sage ; the intercepting valve I V remaining closed, as there is 
no accumulation of pressure in the receiver R. 



542 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



0. In this case, whence does the low-pressure cylinder re- 
ceive steam, and at what pressure'/ 

A. It gets reduced-pressure steam direct from the boiler 
through the port C and reducing valve R V., as shown in Fig. 
352. 

Q. Why should the closing of the throttle cause the engine 
to change into simple? 

A. Because it reduces the main receiver pressure, which 
must be overcome in forcing open the emergency valve. 



W^j^t-THREE WAY C ocK 
PLACED IN CAB 
TO ATMOSPHERE 




Fig. 352. Richmond (Mellin) Compound, Working 
Single-Expansion. 

Q. What causes these engines to throw so much zvater from 
the stack when starting? 

A. The six small automatic drain cocks under the cylinder 
saddle become clogged, which prevents the drainage of the 
large steamways ; the water in the live steamways is carried 
into the cylinders, while that in the exhaust cavities must be 
thrown out at the exhaust nozzle. The drain cocks should be 
kept cleaned out and due care exercised to have cylinder cocks 
kept open until the water is worked out. 

Q. What should be done at a terminal on engines having 
globe valves instead of automatic drain cocks? 



RICHMOND COMPOUND. 543 

A. The globe valves should be left slightly open, to pre- 
vent accumulation of water in the steamways. These must 
not be left wide open, as some being in the live-steam pas- 
sages will cause trouble when moving the engine. However, 
after the engine has been standing for some time, they should 
be opened to permit of drainage before moving the engine. 

Q. Why does steam frequently blow from the large cylinder 
cock on the L. P. side? 

A. This large cylinder cock is so constructed that it is al- 
ways open to the exhaust end of the cylinder ; part of the ex- 
hausted steam is forced out of the cylinder cock. This blow 
could also be aggravated by leakage past the piston packing, 
or by steam blowing through the main valve on the L. P. 
side. 

Q. Sometimes live steam blozvs from this large cylinder 
cock. Hozv do you account for this? 

A. Improper adjustment of the cylinder-cock rigging some- 
times holds the valve open to the live-steam end of the cy- 
linder, but it is more often caused by foreign substances on 
the valve face. 

Q. What is this foreign substance, and where does it come 
from? 

A. Cinders and smoke, drawn into the cylinders from the 
smoke-box when the engine is drifting. 

Q. Hozv can the engineman prevent this? 

A. By having the fire well burned before shutting off steam, 
and by using the blower while drifting, especially with a green 
fire. Thus much of the smoke and cinders will be carried out 
of the stack, that would otherwise be drawn into the cylinders. 

Q. What is the essential peculiarity in the Mallet (pro- 
nounced M allay) two-cylinder non-automatic system with H. 
P. exhaust? 

A. There is a H. P. cylinder on one side and a low on 



544 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

the other, with a receiver pipe between them. The main 
steam pipe runs from the boiler to the H. P. cylinder ; there is 
a starting valve connected with the boiler by a pipe, and an 
intercepting valve which may either throw the exhaust of the 
H. P. cylinder up into the stack or pass it into the receiver, 
thence to reach the L. P. cylinder. The intercepting valve is 
composed of two circular valves and a piston, making a bal- 
anced double poppet: The central opening in the intercepting 
valve connects with the H. P. exhaust, the left (say) with 
the usual exhaust nozzle, and the right with the receiver pipe. 
By opening the starting valve, steam from the boiler is let 
into the receiver pipe, and of course serves the large or L. P. 
cylinder with steam at boiler pressure instead of with exhaust 
steam. This excess of pressure in the receiver puts on the 
large valve piston which opens into the receiver sufficient 
pressure to close it, at the same time opening that valve pis- 
ton (on the same stem) between the H. P. exhaust pipe and 
the exhaust pipe to the stack; so that the machine will under 
these circumstances work as a simple engine with two H. P. 
cylinders, and will keep on doing so until the starting valve 
is closed by hand. Closing the starting valve causes the 
valve piston to move over, so that one closes the communi- 
cation for the H. P. exhaust to the stack, and the other opens 
it for this exhaust to get to the receiver and of course to the; 
L. P. cylinder. At the same time, the boiler-pressure steam is 
shut off from the receiver. 

Q. What is the peculiarity of the Mallet "articulated" or 
"double-bogie" four-cylinder type? 

A. The H. P. cylinders are fastened to the rear part of 
the main frames, and drive one set of wheels, the low being on 
a front bogie with a separate set of wheels. 

Q. What is the advantage of this type? 

A. There is no dead weight; the engine may be used on 
very sharp curves. 



RHODE ISLAND COMPOUND. 



545 




Fig. 353- Front Section of Rhode Island Locomotive Works 

Intercepting Valve at Ports d and e ; also Front View of Portion of 

Receiver with Exhaust Valve. 




Fig. 354. Side Section of Rhode Island Locomotive Works 
Intercepting Valve, Running Compound. 



546 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. Describe the arrangement of cylinders and valves of the 
Batchellor compound engine of the Rhode Island Locomotive 
Works? 

A. As shown in Fig. 353, which gives a front section of 
the intercepting valve at the ports d and e } also a front view 
of a portion of the receiver with the exhaust valve; in Fig. 
354, which shows a side section of the same while running 
compound, and Fig. 355, which shows it while running simple. 
The intercepting valve being in any position as in Fig. 354, 
and the exhaust valve closed as in the same figure, the throttle 
being opened, boiler steam will pass to the H. P. cylinder in 




Fig. 355« Side Section Rhode Island Locomotive 
Intercepting Valve, Running Non-Compound. 

the usual manner, and also through the pipe D into the inter- 
cepting valve A, causing the piston to move into the position 
shown in Fig. 355. In this position the receiver is closed to 
the L. P. cylinder by the piston C, and steam from D passes 
through the ports d and e, and the reducing-valve B, into the 
L. P. steam chest; the pressure being reduced from boiler 
pressure in the ratio of the cylinder areas. The piston a-b-c 
is so proportioned that it will automatically change to the 
compound position shown in Fig. 354, when a predetermined 
pressure in the receiver E has been reached by the exhausts 
from the high-pressure cylinder. The engine thus starts with 
steam in both cylinders and automatically changes to com- 
pound at a desired receiver pressure. 

Q. Hozu may the engine be changed from compound to 
non-compound? 



RHODE ISLAND COMPOUND. 547 

A. This may be done at any time at the desire of the en- 
gine-runner, by opening the valve F connecting the receiver 
to the exhaust pipe, allowing the exhausts from the H. P. 
cylinder to escape through the nozzle in the usual manner. 

Q. Hoic is the exhaust valve F operated? 

A. The small pipe m is from a hand valve in the cab, con- 
necting it to either steam or atmosphere. When desiring to 
run compound, m is put in connection with atmosphere ; the 
receiver steam keeping the valve F in position as shown in 
Fig. 354. To run simple, m is connected to steam which will 
hold the valve F as in Fig. 355, the ports opening E to the 
exhaust. The valve F takes either position at any time when 
desired by the engine runner. 

Q. How can the engine be used non-compound at starting, 
in -case of bad conditions? 

A. By opening the exhaust valve before starting; on its 
closure the piston a-b-c will automatically take the "com- 
pound" position of Fig. 354, as already described. 

Q. What is the course of the steam in the Rhode Island 
compound locomotive when working compound? 

A. Through the stand pipe, dry pipe, and steam pipe to 
the H. P. chest, and, as the valve travels, into alternate ends 
of the H. P. cylinder. The exhaust steam, instead of going 
directly into the L. P. cylinder through the valve (as in the 
Vauclain type) passes into the receiver, thence into the L. P. 
chest, then through the steam ports, as the valve moves, into 
the L. P. cylinder ; the final exhaust from the other end of 
the L. P. cylinder passing out through the steam port, under 
the valve, by means of the exhaust cavity, through the nozzle, 
and so out of the stack. 

Q. What is the course ef the steam in the Rhode Island com- 
pound engine when working in the so-called simple position? 

A. The passage of the steam into the H. P. cylinder is the 



548 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



same as in compound position; but the exhaust, instead of 
passing into the receiver and into the L. P. cylinder, goes di- 
rectly to the exhaust nozzle through the separate exhaust 
valve, the L. P. cylinder receiving its steam directly from 




Fig. 356. Vauclain Compound Cylinders. 



the boiler through the small steam pipe, in the front end, 
through the reducing valve and through a steam cavity in 
the saddle to the L. P. chest; the final exhaust passing out as 
before. 



VAUCLAIN COMPOUND. 549 

VAUCLAIN FOUR-CYLIXDER COMPOUND. 

Q. Describe the Vauclain {Baldwin) four-cylinder unbal- 
anced two-crank cross compound type? 

A. This type has four outside cylinders, the H. P. usually 




Fig. 357. Vauclain Compound. 

being above the low on each side (see Fig. 356), and the 
valve chest for each side being inside and alongside of the 
cylinders. The valves are of the piston type, consisting of a 
hollow block with cylindrical rims, fitting in a hollow cylinder 



550 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



with apertures registering with the rims of the plugs, leading 
to and from the ends of the cylinders from the steam pipe 
and the exhaust pipe. (See Fig. 356.) They are fitted with 
simple ring packings inserted by springing them into grooves 




Fig. 358. Vauclain Compound. 

in the plug. The steam enters the H. P. cylinder and drives 
the piston therein, on the return stroke passing through a 
circular groove in the center of the valve, and being dis- 
charged through the exhaust port and the exhaust pipe. (See 
Figs. 356 to 359 inclusive.) The same operation takes place 



VAUCLAIN COMPOUND. 



551 



in both ends of the cylinder. It takes steam at once from 
the H. P. to the L. P. cylinder, no receiving chamber being 
needed. 

Q. What is the piston arrangement in this Vduclain com- 
pound? 




Fig* 359- Vauclain Compound. 

A. The pistons are connected and play together in the same 
direction at the same time; their position and the relative 
position of the valve with reference to them being shown in 
Figs- 357. 358, and 359. In Fig. 357, both pistons are at the 



552 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



crosshead end or back end of the cylinder; in Fig. 358, both 
are at mid-stroke; in Fig. 359, both are at front or out ends; 
the arrows showing the direction of the live and exhaust 
steam in both pistons and in the valve chamber. 

Q. Describe the second combined starting valve and cylinder 
cock used on the Baldwin (Vauclain) four-cylinder compound, 
and replacing that first used, and shown on page 209. 

A. As shown in Figs. 360 and 361, there is a casting in 




POS. 3. 

Fig. 360. Baldwin (Vauclain) Combined Starting- Valve 
and Cylinder-Cock. 

which are two taper plugs P, P, one controlling the H. P. 
cylinder cock and the steam for starting, and the other con- 
trolling the L. P. cylinder cock. These plugs are held in place 
by springs ^ and controlled by an arm A operated by a lever 
in the cab. 

In position 1 of the lever, as in Fig. 360, the starting valve 
is open to admit live steam to the low-pressure cylinder, and 
the cylinder cocks are open to the atmosphere. 

In lever position 2, indicated by a dotted line, all the pas- 
sages would be closed; and in position 3, also indicated by a 



VAUCLAIN COMPOUND. 



553 



dotted line, the starting valve only would be open to admit 
live steam to the L. P. cylinder. 

Q. Describe in detail the operation of the combined cylinder 
cock and starting valve? 

A. As shown in Fig. 360, when the valve is in starting 
position, live steam passes across from that end of the H. P. 
cylinder which is receiving steam from the boiler to the other 
end of the same cylinder, and thence through the main valve 




Fig. 361. Baldwin (Vauclain) Combined Starting- Valve 
and Cvlinder-Cock. 



to the L. P. cylinder; putting the H. P. piston. head very nearly 
in equilibrium, but giving the L, P. cylinder nearly full boiler 
pressure. The valve has two taper plugs, one controlling the 
H. P. cylinder cock, the other the low ; both being held in 
place by springs and controlled by an arm from a lever in the 
cab. When the valve lets steam through to the L. P. cylinder 
direct, in starting, the cylinder cocks are open. In a second 



554 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 




n3 

& 

o 
P. 

a 

o 
O 



PQ 






CO 



E 



VAUCLAIN COMPOUND. 555 

position all passages are closed ; in a third, the only opening 
is to let live steam to the L. P. cylinder. 

Q. In this type how is the vacuum of the L. P. cylinders 
relieved, when the engine is running with steam shut off? 
A. By air valves in the cylinder ends. 

Q. Describe the Vauclain balanced four-cylinder four- 
crank compound? 

A. In this (see Figs. 362 and 363) there are two H. P. be- 
tween the frames and two L. P. outside them ; all four axes 
parallel and in the same horizontal plane. The saddle is in two 
pieces, each w T ith a H. P. and a L. P. cylinder and a valve chest. 
The valve is a balanced piston equal in diameter to the H. P. 
cylinder ; the L. P. cylinder has 5-3 the diameter, that is, 2.78 
times the area, of the H. P. All valves have "clearance'' or 
negative inside lap, the L. P. having more than the H. P. In 
Fig- 363 (which is a "scheme" drawing and does not corre- 
spond to the real construction) we have the valve in full-port- 
open position. The pistons of each compound pair move in 
opposite directions. The valve chamber is seen to have seven 
ports ; one at each end, to the L. P. cylinder, one next inside 
each of these to the L. P. exhaust passage in the saddle; one 
in the center for live steam, one each side of that for the H. P. 
end passages. The valve is composed of three spring-packed 
pistons, end to end, in line 'on a common stem, and travels in 
a bush; the ports are bridged to prevent the rings getting 
therein. In the cut the middle valve section A has opened the 
right-hand or back H. P. port to the central or supply port B y 
so that the H. P. piston is going to the right. The right-hand 
valve section C has opened the L. P. port D to the final exhaust 
port E, so that the exhaust of the right-hand end of the L. P. 
cylinder can escape into the stack. The left-hand valve section 
F has opened the left-hand L. P. port G to the L. P. cylinder 
(front end) and the middle valve section has opened the H. P. 
port to the valve center, letting the exhaust from the left-hand 



556 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



end of the H. P. cylinder pass through the valve center into 
the left-hand L. P. port, moving the L. P. piston to the right 
or backward. 

Each piston has its own rod, "alligator" crosshead and 




DIRECTION 
OF PISTON 



Fig. 363. Cylinders and Valves of Balanced Compound. 



guides. The L. P. crosshead is connected with the main driv- 
ing wheel (which is the front one) ; the main axle has two 
inside cranks 90 deg. apart, each driven by one of the H. P. 
pistons. Each H. P. crank-pin is 180 deg. from the correspond- 
ing L. P. pin for that side. The eccentrics are never on the 
main driving axle ; are on a Mogul. On account of the great 



COLE BALANCED COMPOUND. 



557 



distance between rocker-arm and valve, the valve-rod is in 
two sections, and is jointed and guided. 

Q. How is the Vauclain balanced four-cylinder compound 
started? 

A. By balancing the pressure on both H. P. pistons, by a 
starting valve which lets live steam to both sides thereof, at 
the same time supplying live steam to both L. P. cylinders. 

Q. Describe the present type of De Glehn four-cylinder 
four-crank .compound? 

A. The only one in use on French railways in 1891 ; H. P. 
cylinders outside, behind the L. P. ; the L. P. cranks are 90 deg. 
apart and the H. P. set 180 deg. from these; usual cylinder 
area ratio, 1 -.2.5 ; cut-offs in the H. P. cylinders with very 
wide adjustability independent of the L. P. All four cylinders 
have slide valves lying above them; but while those of H. P. 
are horizontal, those of the L. P. have horizontal valve stems, 
but the valves are canted downward and outward. (Fig. 




- e 



* 






Fig. 364. Plan of Baldwin Balanced Compound. 



364.) The H. P. cylinders drive the rear driving axles and 
the L. P. the front ones, but the tw T o axles are coupled. 

Q. Give a general description of the Cole four-cylinder bal- 
anced compounds used on the N. Y. C. RR.f 

A. The relative positions of the H. P. and L. P. cylinders 
may be seen in Figs. 365 and 366. The smoke-box steam pipes 
deliver steam into passages in the L. P. saddle. It is brought 
to the forward part of the valve chamber to the H. P. piston 
valves through inclosed elbow pipes, one of which is seen in 



558 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 




id 
05 



S 




COLE BALANCED COMPOUND. 



559 




Fig. 367. 



Fig 368. 




Fig. 369. Fig. 370. 

Cole Four-Cylinder Balanced Compound Passenger Locomotive, 
Atlantic Type. 



560 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



elevation in Fig. 365. The H. P. guides, Fig. 366, are under 
and attached to the L, P. saddle ; but the L. P. guides are in the 
usual location outside of the frames. The driving-axle cranks 
are 180 deg. apart, placing the reciprocating parts of the H. P. 
and L. P. cylinders in opposing motion, thus aiding balance. 
To equalize the weights of the pistons, 
^ those of the H. P. cylinders are solid, 
those of the L. P. dished, and as light as 
S possible. A single Stephenson valve-mo- 

d 

3 tion type operates a single valve stem on 

^ each side of the engine. Each valve stem 

3 carries two piston valves, one for a H. P., 

S the other for a L. P. cylinder. 

o The back end, Fig. 367, and the two 

u sections, Figs. 368, 369, resemble those 

£P of ordinary two-cylinder locomotives, but 

$ the half front elevation and half section 

^ (Fig. 370) show several departures. The 

g H. P. piston rod, crosshead, and guides 

a, are shown in position under the L. P. 

saddle. The method of introducing the 
j ... 
3 elbow T pipe between the steam pipes is m- 

g dicated. Fig. 371 shows one of the frames 

1 in plan and elevation; the main portion 
u between the L. P. cylinder and the rear 
§ pedestal is of the bar type; the forward 
% extension in front of the L. P. cylinder 
u seat is slabbed, and to it are bolted the 

2 H. P. cylinders. That part of the frame 
2 back of the rear pedestal has an extra 
J plate, parallel to the main frame plate, 
h to give proper support to the pedestals 
7 and springs belonging to the outside 
g journal boxes of the trailing wheels. 




~:w 




COLE BALANCED COMPOUND. 



561 



The H. P. cylinders and the H. P. section of the piston-valve 
chambers are in one casting. (Fig. 372.) On top of the valve 
chamber is the boss in which is seated the forward end of the 
elbow pipe (previously mentioned). The cylinder-casting sides 
are faced off to the exact distance between the front plate 




Fig. 372. High-Pressure Valve-Chamber Sections. 



frame extensions. The H. P. valve chambers are in line with 
those of the L. P. cylinders ; intermediate thimble castings 
and packing glands being inserted between the two form a 
continuous valve chamber common to both H. P. and L. P. 
cylinders, thus providing for expansion. Two of the valve- 
chamber bushings are indicated in partial section in the upper 
view, but omitted in the lower left-hand view. 

Fig. 373 shows the L, P. cylinders, cast separately and bolted 



562 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



together; their insides are faced off to embrace the outer bar 
frame faces. The L, P. piston-valve chamber is in direct' line 
between the cylinder and the exhaust base. Here is seen the 
seat for the back ends of the elbow pipes which convey the 
steam from the L. P. saddle to the forward end of the valve 
chambers. The valve chamber bushings, here omitted, are 
shown in Fig. 374. This view shows the exhaust passage from 




Fig 373- Low-Pressure Valve-Chamber Sections. 



the L. P. cylinders to the exhaust nozzle, and the starting- 
valve chambers. 

The H. P. cylinders are shown in Fig. 374 as t»hey would 
appear in section revolved into the same plane. The H. P. 
valve is arranged for central admission, the L. P. for central 
exhaust, both being hollow. A thimble casting or ground joint 
ring and a gland connect the two parts of the continuous valve 
chamber. The valves are exactly alike, with bodies of wrought- 
iron pipe, spiders, and flanges of cast steel. The bull rings 
(of which each valve has four) are of cast iron. 



ACCIDENTS TO VAUCLAIN COMPOUNDS. 



563 



ACCIDENTS TO THE VAUCLAIN FOUR-CYLINDER CROSS COMPOUND. 

Q. When a Vauclain four-cylinder cross compound 
"exhausts lame'' what is to be examined? 

A. The starting valve and connecting levers, if the former 




u 


o 

B 

o 

U 

O 
cd 



o 



> 



u 



s 



564 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

is central at the same time as the latter. If not, the connecting 
levers should be adjusted until they are "in time" with each 
other. 

Q. Should the unequal exhaust still continue, what then? 

A. The motion work should be examined for bent or loose 
eccentric rod, bent transmission rod, loose boxes, etc. 




Fig. 375- Vauclain Cylinders. 

Q. Should all the motion work prove right and the lame 
exhaust still continue, zvhat then? 

A. The valve packing rings and cylinder packing rings 
should be tested. 

Q. Referring to Fig, 376, which rings govern steam admis- 
sion to the H. P. cylinder? 



ACCIDENTS TO VAUCLAIN COMPOUNDS. 



565 



A. Nos. I, 2, 7, 8; the others being for the L. P. cylinder. 
Q. How can rings i, 2, 7, 8 be tested? 

A. By putting the reverse lever central (thus covering all 
ports), opening the throttle, and thus letting steam to the 




Fig. 376. Showing Valve Packing Rings. 

ends of the valve. If rings 1 and 8 leak, the steam will blow 
through and fill the valve arch and both ends of the H. P. 
cylinder; and blow steadily at the H. P. cylinder cocks or 
indicator-plug holes ; or where there is a relief valve on the 
end of the extended valve stem, through this valve. 



566 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. Where would leaky rings I and 8 show steam with the 
reverse lever off the center? 

A. Through the air valves C.C 1 , of Fig. 377 or the L. P. 
ports. 

Q. What is the proof of leaky rings 5 and 6? 
A. With the reverse lever on the center, a steady blow 
through the exhaust. 

Q. What would be the effect of a small leak at rings i 
and 8? 




Fi g- 377- Cylinder Cock Rigging. 



A. Only partial loss, as it would do work in the L. P. cyl- 
inder. 

Q. What is the test of tightness of rings 3, 4, 5, 6? 

A. With reverse lever in full gear, starting valve open, 



ACCIDENTS TO VAUCLAIN COMPOUNDS. 567 




Figs. 378, 379 and 380. Starting Valve and Cylinder Cocks* 



588 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

driving brakes on, and open throttle, there would be a steady- 
blow through the exhaust nozzle if these rings leaked. 

Q. How can you test the H.P. cylinder packing of a Vau- 
clain four-cylinder cross compound? 

A. By putting the engine at about quarter stroke with front 
port open as in Fig. 357, keeping the starting valve closed and 
driving brakes on, and opening throttle. If the rings leak 
the steam w T ill pass through the center of the valve to the 
front end of the L. P. cylinder and escape steadily at the 
front L. P. cylinder cock. 

Q. How may the L.P. cylinder packing be tested? 

A. By putting the engine in the same position as mentioned 
in the last answer, but opening the starting valve ; a leak will 
be indicated by a blow at the back L. P. cylinder work. 

Q. What would be the effect of a leaky H. P. valve on the 
L. P. cylinder? 

A. The exhaust on that side would be heavier. 

Q. What would be the effect of leaky L. P. cylinder packing? 

A. To decrease the exhausts on that side. 

Q. Describe the starting valve and cylinder cocks of the 
Baldwin compounds? 

A. As shown in Figs. 378 to 380 inclusive, where arm posi- 
tion 1 (left) shows the device as starting valve and cylinder 
cock combined, position 2 (central) with all openings closed, 
and position 3 (right) serving as starting valve only. 

Q. Describe the method of starting and running a Vauclain 
unbalanced four-cylinder cross compound? 

A. Supposing the throttle partly open and the reverse and 
cylinder-cock levers full forward, the latter will open the 
starting valve or by-pass valve as well as the cylinder cocks, 
and give the L. P. cylinder live steam. As soon as possible 
after starting, the cylinders being drained, the cylinder cocks 
and by-pass should be closed. Then the throttle may be 



ACCIDENTS TO VAUCLAIN COMPOUNDS. 569 

opened and the reverse lever hooked back (both gradually). 
Should more power than is necessary be developed with the 
reverse lever in the last notch (cut-off at half stroke) the 
throttle opening may be lessened. 

Q. What is to be done on moderate dozen grades zeith the 
T"auclain four-cylinder unbalanced compound? 

A. The throttle may be nearly closed, only enough steam 
being used to keep the air valves closed. 

Q. On very steep dozen grades? 

A. Close the throttle entirely, put the reverse lever in full 
forward notch and the cylinder cock and by-pass lever in full 
backward position, letting the air pass freely to and fro in the 
starting valve, thus preventing a vacuum being formed and 
the oil being blown out of the cylinders. 

Q. On tip grades? 

A. With a heavy train, keep moving the reverse lever for- 
ward at just the rate required to keep the speed constant. 

Q. Should there be signs of stalling in running compound 
up grade with lever in full go-ahead position, zehat is to be 
done? 

A. The by-pass opened so as to run non-compound as long 
as actually necessary. 

Q. What rule about liooking up on a Vauclain four-cylin- 
der cross compound? 

A. Xever to hook up until the cylinder cock and by-pass 
lever is in central position. 

Q. What rule about letting live steam into the L.P. cyl- 
inder? 

A. Xever to do so when the lever is not in the last notch. 

Q. What are the disadvantages of a four-cylinder cross 
compound? 

A. Duplication of guides, crossheads, and main rods. 

Q. Why is the Vauclain valve chamber bushed? 



570 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. (i) Its construction calls for rough-coring, and (2) 
the bush can be of better metal and finish than the main cast- 
ing. 

Q. What is the character of the Vauclain valve? 
A. Two balanced D valves (or two piston valves) end to 
end. 

Q. Hozv is the Vauclain valve stem carried? 

A. On a small crosshead, sliding between guides. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of all four-cylinder engines? 

A. For a given power they have (1) too niuch cylinder 
condensation, (2) too much complication of slide valves and 
stuffing boxes, and (3) too great maintenance and repair 
costs. 

FOUR-CYLINDER COMPOUNDS. 

Q. What are the two principal classes of four-cylinder com- 
pounds as regards steam distribution? 

A. (1) The "continuous expansion" or non-receiver 
(Woolf ) type, in which the H. P. and the L. P. pistons are 
rigidly connected, so that there is but small dead space between 
the cylinders ; (2) the receiver type, in which the crank angles 
do not play a very large part. 

Q. What are the engines of the four-cylinder receiverless 
class? 

A. The Dunbar, Du Bousquet, Baldwin (Vauclain), and 
Johnstone, having a H. P. and a L. P. cylinder on the same 
side, with their pistons connected to the same crosshead. 

Q. What are the engines of the four-cylinder receiver class? 

A. The Hungarian and the S. W. Russian, the Brooks 
(Player), and the Baldwin (Vauclain) tandems; those with 
two inside-connected H. P. and two outside-connected L. P. 
cylinders, and the Mallet "double bogie" type. 

Q. Into how many classes may four-cylinder locomotives 
be divided as regards cylinder arrangement? 



TANDEM COMPOUNDS. 571 

A. Four: (i) Those having a H. P. and a L. P. cylinder 
side by side; (2) those with H. P. lying over the L. P.; (3) 
those having the H. P. and the L. P. arranged "tandem," that 
is, one before the other; (4) those having the H. P. cylinder 
within the L. P. 

Q. What are the crank arrangements in the first type? 

A. There are four cranks (that is, two cranks in the axle 
itself, and two crank pins outside of the main drivers). 

Q. In the second? 

A. The H. P. and the L. P. rods on each side take hold of 
the same crosshead. 

0. In the third? 

A. The rods being in line there is naturally but one cross- 
head and one crank (or crank pin) for each pair. 

TANDEM COMPOUNDS. 

Q. What is a tandem compound locomotive? 

A. A four-cylinder compound in which the H. P. cylinder 
is in direct axial line with the L. P., and there is no receiver ; 
the H. P. and L. P. piston rods being attached to the same 
crosshead, and both cylinders having their steam distribution 
managed by one link ; sometimes by but one slide valve. 

Q. What is the special advantage of the tandem compound? 

A. Simplicity, being in this next to the two-cylinder com- 
pound ; no complications in the matter of starting. 

Q. What parts arc omitted? 

A. Distribution valves, connecting rods, eccentrics, etc. 

0. Where is the extra complication? 

A. In valves, ports, and cylinders. 

Q. What is the course of distributions and expansions in 
this type? 

A. There will be cut-off in the H. P. cylinder up to a cer- 
tain point, then there will be expansion in that up to the point 



572 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

of exhaust opening or release, when there will be a drop in 
pressure as the H. P. exhaust mixes with that in the passages 
between it and the L. P. cylinder ; then there will be further 
expansion in the H. P. cylinder in the passages between the 
two cylinders; then (the L. P. valve opening) there will be 
another drop in pressure, up to that point at which the cylin- 
ders are in communication; next there will be expansion until 
the L. P. admission valve closes ; from this on there will be 
compression in the connecting passages and in the H. P. cylin- 
der ; and when the H. P. exhaust closes there will be more 
compression in the L. P. cylinder. 

Q. What is one of the principal troubles in the steam dis- 
tribution in this type? 

A. The compression in the H, P. cylinder, requiring for its 
reduction either (i) large volume of clearance space therein 
(which will make a drop in pressure at one point in the 
stroke) or (2) giving the H. P. valve "negative exhaust lap" 
and affording large clearance space; extra weight of recipro- 
cating parts, and loss of heat by radiation, with no chance to 
dry the steam between the cylinders. 

Q. Where the shifting link is used, what points of cut-off 
are to be avoided with the tandem compound type? 

A. Early cut-offs, to get away with the evils of over-com- 
pression and wire drawing. 

Q. Describe the Baldwin {Vauclain) tandem compound? 

A. Referring to Fig. 381, there are two H. P. and two 
L. P. cylinders, but the H. P. are in front of and in line with 
the L. P. instead of alongside. Each cylinder on each side 
has its own valve chest and is cast separately from the 
saddle. A pipe from the saddle admits steam to the H. P. 
chest ; the L. P. exhaust is through a stuffing box to the sad- 
dle, so that the cylinders and valve chests and the saddle can 
be "metal to metal." The steam chests on each side are simi- 
larly joined; the same bolts holding the chests together and 



BALDWIN TANDEM COMPOUND. 



573 




*!*£> '<n ©I 



H3 
g 

o 

6 
o 
U 






be 
S 



574 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

fastening the stuffing-box gland. The valves are balanced 
pistons connected in line, each exhausting through the center. 
The driving pistons are on a continuous rod, and those on 
each side make their strokes in common. The H. P. and L. P. 
cylinders are fastened together by outside bolts securing the 
intermediate head and the stuffing-box gland without any 
bolts being able to get into the cylinder, while the intermediate 
head may be removed without disturbing the intermediate 
rod-packing. 

STARTING POWER. 

" Q. What is the starting power of the Mallet and other com- 
pounds zvith independent H. P. exhavist? 

A. About the same as for non-compounds. With cylinder 
ratio of i : 2, steam at half boiler pressure in the L. P. cylinder 
will give the same starting power as a non-compound — except, 
of course, when the L. P. crank is on a center. 

Q. Suppose that we have a Mallei compound zvith the H.P. 
cylinder the same area as one of the H. P. in an ordinary 
engine, and the L. P. twice as large; with a given boiler 
power what will' be the quantity of steam necessary to start 
the train, as compared with the simple engine? 

A. The L. P. cylinder need have only one-half the pressure, 
to give the same starting power of the entire machine. 

Q. If we give the L.P. cylinder full boiler pressure, how 
about the starting power of the compound? 

A. It will have a greater starting power than the non-com- 
pound, unless the L. P. cylinder is on the dead center, or the 
L. P. valve is in such position that it cannot be moved to let 
steam in. 

Q. How about the starting and accelerating powers of two- 
cylinder receiver compounds having independent H. P. exhaust 
into the stack? 

A. At slow speeds they are as powerful as (sometimes more 



STARTING POWER OF COMPOUNDS, 575 

powerful than) non-compound of equal rating; but at high 
speeds the independent exhaust may be insufficient and cause 
back pressure. In any case, no engine has more hauling power 
than that due to adhesion to the rails. 

0. Hozc about the starting power of tandem compound lo- 
comotives? 

A. As ordinarily built, by letting live steam into the L. P. 
cylinders, this steam acts as forward or driving pressure on 
the L. P. pistons and as back pressure on the H. P. : so that 
there would be no use in keeping the starting valve open after 
the H. P. cylinder had exhausted once. 

Q. What about the starting power of four-cylinder two- 
crank receiver compounds? 

A. It is good, as the L. P. cylinders on both sides can be 
used with boiler pressure. This is the special advantage of 
this class as well as of the four-cylinder two-crank non-re- 
ceiver type. 

Q. How about the hauling power of four-cylinder two- 
crank receiver compounds? 

A. About the same as for non-compounds, but more regular* 
especially by reason of the late L. P. cut-off. 

Q. What can you say of the starting power of four-cylinder 
two-crank non-receiver compounds? 

A. Excellent, as the L. P. cylinder on each side can be run 
H. P. (This advantage they share with the four-cylinder two- 
crank receiver type.) 

Q. With which class of trains have compound engines the 
most trouble in starting; and why? 

A. Passenger, because more closely coupled. 

Q. How about the starting and accelerating powers of two- 
cylinder receiver compounds that have no independent H. F. 
exhaust? 

A. There is sometimes difficulty, owing to the fact that aU 



576 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

though the maximum starting power of these compounds 
(when the L. P. crank is nearly on the quarter) is greater 
than that of non-compounds, the minimum (when the H. P. 
crank is in the same position) is less. 

Q. Why is this? 

A. Because of the small size of the H. P. cylinder and its 
great back pressure. 

MISCELLANEOUS CONCERNING COMPOUNDS. 

Q. In designing a compound locomotive, what should be 
considered besides the mere matter of evenly distributing the 
power, and saving coal and water? 

A. To keep down the first cost and the repair bill, to keep 
the machine simple, and make the mode of handling as far as 
possible the same as the simple-expansion engines ; to permit 
a train to be brought in without unusual delay, in case of a 
breakdown, with one side only; and in most cases to be avail- 
able for both freight and passenger service. 

Q. How is the formation of a vacuum in the L. P. steam 
passages prevented? 

A. Sometimes by air valves therein ; being wing valves held 
shut under the steam pressure when running, but free to open 
inwards when drifting. Fig. 382 shows a cross section 
through main valve and ports, together with the starting 
valve (or by-pass valve) piping and controlling levers, and the 
L. P. water relief valves. In this arrangement the piston-valve 
rod is hollow and the bore communicates with the valve in- 
terior by a number of holes; the outer end passes through a 
stuffing-box and bears an air check valve. When drifting, 
the air passes into the L. P. passages through this valve and 
the hollow stem. 

Q. Where does the reverse lever of a compound usually cut 
off in the H. P. cylinder? 



VAUCLAIN COMPOUNDS. 577 

A. At about half at latest. 
0. Why? 

A. Because with shorter cut-off there would be too much 
compression in that cylinder. 

Q. In running down a grade where should the reverse lever 
be? 

A. In full gear, to give the valve full port opening; the 
starting valve should also be opened. 




Fig. 382. Showing Main Valves and Parts. 



0. Under what conditions have compounds most power at 
high speed ? 

A. With throttle partly closed and late cut-off. 

O. Why. 

A. The compression is kept down. 



57S LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

THE, CAB. 

Q. What sorts of cabs are* used on engines having broad 
fire-boxes? 

A. On those having broad (Wootten) fire-boxes there are 
two cabs : a large one saddled over the boiler waist ; the other, 
much smaller, to shelter the fireman at the back end. With 
the latter type a roof on the forward end of tender is fre- 
quently used, the tender-cab roof being slightly lower than 
that of the engine cab. 

Q. What are included under the term "cab fittings"? 

A. The special devices on and near the boiler head under 
the direct control of the engineman. These include the steam 
gage, sight- feed lubricator, air-pump throttle valve, t blower 
valve, steam-heat valve, air gage, cylinder-cock handle, sander 
handle, bell ringer, injector valves, gage cocks, water gage, 
throttle, reverse lever, air-signal whistle, cab lamp, etc. 

THE TENDER. 

Q. Where are the fuel and water usually carried? 

A. In a tender; a separate vehicle having its own trucks 
but always run just back of the engine, to which it is attached 
by a coupling and safety, chains. Most commonly the water 
tank is of U shape with the opening toward the cab, and the 
coal in the space between. Sometimes the coal is on top of 
the tank, a flaring edge preventing its falling off in case it is 
piled up. 

Q. What is the usual way of filing the tender tank? 

A. By hose from a pipe or tank at the watering stations; 
the tender tank having a manhole or filling hole into which 
the free end of the hose is put. 

Q. By zvhat means can a tender tank be filed ivith zvater 
without necessitating stoppage of the train? 

A. By having a trough in the center of a level reach of 
track for a mile or so, and a scoop tube let down from the 



WATER GCOOPS. 579 

tender after it has got over the tank, and withdrawn before 
the other end of the trough is reached. The velocity of the 
train causes the water to be forced up the scoop tube into the 
tender. 

Q. Describe this scoop in detail ? 

A. It consists of a hung cast-iron or steel-plate conduit of 
rectangular cross section, about 8x12 inches, passing up 
'hrough the tender tank and turned over at the top, to dis- 
charge the water downward. The lower end, underneath the 
tender frame, is fitted with a scoop that can be lowered into 
the trough by a lever worked by hand, or by compressed air 
in a cylinder, the piston rod of which is connected to a mech- 
anism for raising and lowering the scoop. The water is 
forced up through the pipe into the tender tank when the 
scoop moves through the trough at 25 to 40 miles per hour. 

Q. How does the water reach the engine from the tender? 

A. There is between the two a flexible hose, usually attached 
to a sink or cistern in the bottom of the tank, which lessens 
the probability of air being sucked into it when the water is 
nearly all drawn out ; the opening to this sink or cistern being 
controlled by a disk valve working in a strainer chamber, 
which prevents the passage of trash that might clog the pump 
valves. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of having a tank on the boiler? 

A. It is inconvenient and unsightly ; has not room for much 
water; the driving wheels may have too much load on them 
when the tank is full, and then when there comes need for 
plenty of traction, the tank may be empty and the useful load 
not be there. 

Q. Hozv are the tender tracks made? 

A. About like the engine trucks, except that the journal 
bearings and frames are outside the wheels instead of inside, 
to give greater facilities for oiling, or for renewal of the 
bearings. 



r>8f> 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



0. How arc the tender-axle boxes made? 

A. About like car-axle boxes, the journal being- in a cast- 
iron box open front and rear and having a cover. (Fig. 383.) 

Q. What keeps the oil from leaking out of the box, past 
the journal, and dust from getting in? 

A. A wooden or leather packing piece or dust guard. 




Fig. 383. Tender Journal-box. 

1. Box, 2. Wedge. 3. Brass. 4. T^id. 5. Axle. 

Q. Hozv is the tender usually borne by its trucks? 

A. On two points at the back axle, and on a center pin at 
the front axle, thus giving a three-point bearing. 

Q. What keeps the tender trucks from getting crosszvise of 
the track in case of derailment? 

A. Safety chains or check chains, as with the engine truck. 

P. Suppose that with a tank full of water the tank valves 
stick hard, zvhat is to be done? 

A. Take off the goose neck, and punch with a coupling pin 
and the coal pick, if the valves are reachable. 

Q. Suppose the valves can not be got at, how is the tank 
to be partly emptied? 

A. By a siphon made of one of the feed pipes, held in 
U shape and filled with water, then plugged at one end, 
inverted in the water, and opened out; care being taken to 
have the short leg in the tank. 



LOCOMOTIVE ACCESSORIES. 581 

Q. How are you to tell, at night, if the tender tank is full? 

A. By a stick or the hand, or by spitting; as the reflection 
of a torch is apt to be misleading. 

0. How many tons of coal would a pit of the following 
dimensions hold: Length, 9 feet ; width, 4 feet; depth, 3 feet 
3 inches? 

A. At 57 pounds per cubic foot (average weight of bitumi- 
nous coal) one ton requires 35 cubic feet, and 9 X 4 X 3- 2 5 ~^~ 
35 = 3-34 tons. 

0. What precaution is taken to prevent engine and tender 
being parted in case the coupling betzveen them gives az^ay? 

A. There are safety chains between them. 

0. How are the brakes applied to the tender? 

A. Usually on only one pair of wheels ; properly on both.* 

ACCESSORIES. 

Q. What means are employed to signal the approach or 
intended starting of a train from the train itself? 

A. The bell (Fig. 384) and the whistle (Figs. 385 and 386). 

0. Where is the bell usually placed, and how is it rung? 

A. It is placed on top of the boiler, in the yoke, and rung 
by a rope passing into the cab. 

0. How is the engineer signaled by the conductor? 

A. By a gong bell, and often by an air whistle ; the former 
being fastened to the cab ceiling and struck by means of a 
cord passing through the train ; the whistle being attached to 
and operated by the air-brake system, at the will of the 
conductor. 

0. How do the engineman and fireman get out to the front 
of the engine zvhen it is running? 

A. By a running-board on each side of the boiler, length- 
wise of the machine : a brass or iron tubular hand railing 

* See under Brakes, 



582 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 




Fig. 384. Bell and Frame. 
1. Bell. 2. Frame. 3. Yoke. 4. Crank. 5. Tongue, 6. Acorn. 




-J 



-4 




Fig. 386. 
Chime Whistle. 



Fig- 3S5. Whistle Work. 
I. I^ever. 2, Arm or Crank, 3. Shaft. 4. Shaft-bearing*. 5. I4nk, 



FOOT PLATES AND COW CATCHERS. 583 

enabling them to walk more securely in case the engine is 
lurching. 

Q. What is the foot plate or foot board? 

A. A heavy iron horizontal plate connecting the back ends 
of the upper frame bars, and serving as a floor for the cab, 
as a strut between the frames, and as a point of attachment 
for the draw bar. In addition to this, it may, by being 
made purposely of extra weight, serve to increase the amount 
of weight on the drivers, where the weight is not properly 
distributed. 

0. Where do we find foot boards most common? 
A. With engines burning soft coal or wood. 

Q. Is this a good policy? 

A. No, not if there is any way by which more weight may 
be thrown on the drivers and taken off the truck, by equaliz- 
ing levers. It is bad policy to carry any weight that is not 
doing absolute work, if it can be dispensed with. The same 
thing could be much better done by supporting some of the 
weight of the tank or bunkers, by the rear frame end. 

Q. Hon* are obstructions such as small animals or com- 
paratively light rocks, etc., thrown from the track and thus 
prevented from getting under the train and causing either 
damage to the valve gear, or derailment? 

A. By a cow catcher or pilot — a frame having a V-shaped 
base and a # Y-shaped back, attached to the bumper timber and 
tending to throw to one side of the track any comparatively 
light object w r hich may be thereon. (Figs. 387, 388.) 

0. Hozv is the engine enabled to push a train, without 
injury to the cozv catcher? 

A. By a pushing bar hinged to the center of the bumper 
timber, in front, and which, when not in use, lies along the 
front edge of the cow catcher. 

Q. How is light snozv removed front (he (rack? 



584 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. By brushes or by iron plates (according to its depth) 
attached to the cow catcher. 

Q. What are the wheel guards? 

A. Curved splashers of heavy sheet iron, surrounding the 



V-' 


^ • —^ 


o 


d 




^ \ / V 






N^ (1 






^ V / A \ 


1 










N N*. « v / / i i 






Nfc. (1 






^ X / 1 1 






•°N^ « II 






^ V d I 


-I 




N^ II 






^ \l 






X^ (« 








3 



w 




Figs. 387 and 388. Pilot and Front Bumper. 

1. Bumper. 2. Stiffening-plate. 3. Pilot-frame. 4. Pilot-bars. 5. Pilot Bottom- 
band. 6. Draw-bar. 7. Draw-bar Shoe. 8. Bottom Plate. 9. Pushing-shoe. 10. 
Pilot-bracket. 11. Middle Brace. 



HEADLIGHTS. 



585 



upper portions of the driving-wheel rims, to prevent the 
latter from throwing dirt on the engine. 

HEADLIGHT. 

Q. How is the engineer enabled to see ahead of the engine, 
on the track, at night? 

A. By a headlight of about 40 to 75 candle-power placed in 
front on a bracket and having a parabolic mirror by which its 





Fig. 389. 



Fig. 390. 



rays may be directed in a practically parallel beam striking the 
track in an elliptical area some distance ahead of the engine. 

Q. What is the object of the headlight? 

A. To cast a strong beam of light straight ahead of the 
engine, so as (1) to permit the engineman to see obstructions 
on the track, signals, etc. ; (2) to give warning of the approach 
of the train. 

Q. What is the proper axial section of a headlight reflector? 

A. A parabola ; this is, referring to Fig. 389, a curve in which 



586 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



every point is just as far from the focus F. as. from a certain 
line AB at right angles to its axis CD. Thus, in the cut, 
a b — b F; c e = e F , and so on. 

Q. Why is this curve chosen? 

A. Because if the light is at the focus all the rays will be 
reflected out parallel to the axis, as in Fig. 390. 

Q. What is the result if the flame is not in the focus? 




-A 



Fig. 391. 



cS 



Fig. 393. 




Fig. 392. 

A. The rays will either diverge as in Fig. 391, or converge. 

Q. What is the object of the perforated tubing in the 
burner? 

A. (1) To admit air around the flame, thus making the 
light whiter, (2) to keep the chimney cool. 



HEADLIGHTS. 587 

Q. Hozi' may a headlight be lighted in a high wind? 

A. (i) By placing three parlor matches as shown (Fig. 
392) raising the wick, lifting the chimney, and striking the lower 
match ; (2) by using a tube A, Fig. 393, with a slot b 1 , in which 
a match is put ; putting the tube down the chimney and pressing 
the button; (3) by winding a small strand from a piece of 
cotton waste around the head of a match, removing the cap 
from the filling hole in the reservoir and dipping the match 
in, far enough to saturate the waste, then lighting the match 
by touching the front end. If the wind is very high, the wick 
may be raised a trifle. 

0. Does headlight oil expand when it is heated? 
A. Yes. 

Q. What is the result?- 

A. If the headlight reservoir is filled so full that there is no 
space for the expansion of the oil, the latter will force its way 
into the burner, and no matter how carefully the light has been 
adjusted when the wick is trimmed, the blaze will go out of 
the top of the lamp chimney when the oil has been expanded 
by the heat. 

Q. Can a headlight blozv up? 

A. No; but it can burn up; the blaze may get too high; a 
drop of burning oil may light the drip can at the bottom of 
the burner and melt the solder that holds the burner to the 
reservoir, thus ruining the headlight. 

Q. Should a torch be used to light the headlight? 
A. No ; it smokes and drips oil. 

TURNTABLES, LOOPS, y'S. 

Q. Hozv can a locomotive be turned around on the track? 
A. By a turntable, a loop, or a Y. 

Q. Hozv is a turntable usually constructed? 

A. There is a circular pit of diameter rather greater than 



588 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

the combined engine and tender length, and having a circular 
track on which roll the wheels of a bridge-like table bearing 
the track and engine, turning about a central vertical pin. 
The wheels lessen the friction, and levers projecting outwards 
from the turntable, or gearing, enable one man to turn it with 
its load. Proper latch pieces lock it in position to prevent de- 
railment of the engine in going on or off the table. The turn- 
table of course enables an engine not only to be reversed, but 
to be run on any one of a number of tracks running in lines 
radial to the center pin of the table. 

Q. On what principle is the hop constructed, by which to 
reverse the position of the engine? 

A. There is very little to explain about it. A pear-shaped 
or kite-shaped siding is led out from the track and returned 
to it, so that the engine which starts thereon heading north 
returns to the main track heading south. 

Q. How, is the Y constructed? 

A. It is simply a triangular track, usually at the end of a 
line; the engine starts up one branch, at an angle to the main 
track, and then curves off to a cross track at right angles to the 
main one ; this gives it 90° of change in direction ; then switch- 
ing back to another curve it re-enters the main track in the 
opposite direction to that which it had on leaving. 

TRACTION.* 

Q. What is meant by traction? 

A. Two things : one the amount of grip or drawing pow T er 
that a locomotive or other similar engine has, and the other 
the percentage or proportion of the amount of drawing power 
that is wasted or absorbed by friction between the rolling 
body and the road upon which it is drawn, and also the amount 
of axle friction of the vehicle being drawn, where such vehicle 
has wheels. 

* See also Starting. 



TRACTION. 589 

Q. Where is traction the greatest? 

A. Of course upon up grade the traction is greater than 
upon levels : and upon down grades it is less. Upon grades 
the friction of the axles remains the same as upon levels, but 
going down grade there may be very little retardation between 
the vehicle and the road. Upon grades there is more retarda- 
tion or waste traction than upon straight tracks or, as the engi- 
neer of permanent way calls them, "tangents." 

0. What name is given to the percentage or proportion of 
force required upon raikcays and other different roads? 
A. The traction co-efficient. 

0. How great is it? 

A. It runs about as follows under ordinary average con- 
ditions : 

Upon railroads in good condition, with well lubricated axles, 
4 pounds per ton of load ; upon railroads under ordinary, but 
not very good conditions, 8 ; upon a very smooth pavement, 12 ; 
on ordinary street pavements in good condition, 20; on street 
pavements and turnpikes, 30; on turnpikes new laid with 
coarse gravel and broken stone, 50; on common roads in bad 
condition, 150; on entirely loose ground or sand, 560. Of 
course where the load stalls in mud the traction is 2,240 pounds 
per ton. 

0. What increases this adhesion or traction in the case of 
a self-propelled vehicle, as a locomotive or an automobile? 

A. Weight on the drivers. Other things being equal, the 
greater the weight thereon the greater the tractive effort. 

Q. Why not make all the wheels of a locomotive drivers 
and thus have all the engine weight utilized in giving traction, 
instead of having one-fourth to one-third of it on the trucks? 

A. That would necessarily lengthen the rigid wheel base. 
While it would do for slow speeds on straight roads it would 
not do at all on curves, bv reason of the long wheel base, or 



590 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

for high speeds, on account of the greater tendency of large 
wheels to leave the track. 

Q. Can a locomotive have too much cylinder power? 

A. Yes ; it may have cylinder power in excess of tractive 
power, and thus slip its wheels instead of driving the whole 
machine ahead. 

Q. Hozv can tractive force be best measured? 

A. By a traction dynamometer : an instrument applied be- 
tween the motor and the train and by or through which it 
is hauled; the compression or expansion of a spring therein 
or the amount of pressure exerted by a piston in a cylinder 
of oil as registered on a gage, showing the force passing 
through it. 

Q. How much pull can an ordinary engine exert? 
A. According to the speed ; say from 2,500 pounds at sixty 
miles an hour up to 12,000 at ten miles. 

Q. What are principal causes of slipping? 

A. Half-wet rails ; over-hard tires or over-soft rails ; too 
little weight on drivers ; sometimes too short wheel-base or too 
light springs. 

Q. What precaution should be taken as regards the condi- 
tion of the rails in making an up grade? 

A. Care should be taken that there are no drops of water 
or of oil on the rails to lessen the traction. 

Q. How should sand be used? 

A. Very sparingly; only enough to give the drivers a grip, 
without unduly covering the rails with a sand crust so as to 
increase the resistance. 

Q. What kind of sand is necessary? 
A. Clean, dry, and sharp. 

Q. How should it be used? 

A. Sparingly; that is, sprinkled on, 



TRACTION. 591 

0. What is the evil effect of thick sanding? 
A. (i) Stalling on up grades; (2) sanding of axle boxes, 
rod brasses, and guides. 

0. What is the evil effect of sanding one rail more than 
the other? 

A. Unequal traction, hence risk of breaking crank pins and 
side rods. 

Q. What is the relation between driver diameter and trac- 
tive power? 

A. Other things being the same, small drivers have the 
best pulling power, but the weight on drivers and the cylin- 
der diameter and stroke have also influence. It makes a dif- 
ference (1) where the main rod takes hold, (2) how much of 
a pull or push it can give, and (3) how much of this pull 
can be utilized without slipping. 

0. About how many poiuids pull should it take to move an 
ordinary train of 500 tons on a level track? 

A. From 3,000 to 4,500 pounds, according to the wheel- 
diameter, journal-diameter, character of track, kind and quan- 
tity of lubricant supplied, etc., say, 3,750 pounds for average 
conditions. 

0. If the entire -weight of an engine could be put on two 
wheels instead of on six or ten, without injuring the track, 
could she be started as well? 

A. Yes. 

Q. Hoz^ may the starting and hauling power of non-com- 
pound engines be figured? 

A. By multiplying the square of the cylinder diameter in 

inches by the mean effective pressure in pounds per square 

. inch and the stroke in inches, and dividing by the actual wheel 

diameter at the rail in inches. This gives the gross power at 

the rail in pounds, not allowing for engine friction. 



592 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. At what piston positions has the engine the weakest 
starting pozver? 

A. At latest cut-off. 

Q. Figure up the tractive power of a 20 x 24-inch non- 
compound engine with 60-inch drivers and mean effective 
pressure of 170 pounds? 

314.16 X 2 X 24 X 2 X 170 

A. = 27,200 pounds. 

3.1416 X 60 

Q. At what may zve take the mean effective pressure for 
starting? 

A. At 85 per cent of the boiler pressure. 

Q. What is the formula for the gross tractive power of a 
two-cylinder compound, when the mean effective pressure is 
knozvn? 

d 2 Ps 

A. ; where d is the diameter of the L. P. cylinder, 

2D 
P the mean effective pressure therein in pounds per square 
inch, ^ the stroke, and D the driver diameter (all measure- 
ments in inches). 

Q. Express this formula in zvords instead of letters? 

A. Multiply the diameter of the L. P. cylinder by itself, by the 
mean effective pressure in that cylinder and by the stroke and 
divide the product by double the driver diameter (all meas- 
urements being in inches) to get the tractive power in pounds. 

Q. Suppose there are no indicator diagrams? 

A. Call the M. E. P. 70 per cent of the boiler pressure. 

Q. How much should be deducted for internal friction? 

A. Say 7 per cent. 

0. Hozv may the tractive pozver of a four-cylinder coin- 
pound be calculated? 

A. Roughly, by considering the M. E. P. in both cylinders 



TRACTION. 593 

at 45 per cent of the boiler pressure, then dividing 45 by the 
cylinder-area ratio; and multiplying 0.45, plus the quotient 
just found, by the boiler pressure, gives the mean effective 
pressure in the L. P. cylinders. Then the formula for gross 
tractive power is 

d 2 Ps 



D 
the letters having the same meaning as in the preceding answer. 

Q. Express this formula in words instead of in letters? 

A. Multiply the diameter of the L. P. cylinder by itself, by 
the mean effective pressure in pounds per square inch in that 
cylinder and by the stroke, and divide by the driver diameter 
(all measurements being in inches) to get the tractive power 
in pounds. 

0. What is the formula for calculating the tractive effort of 
a Vauclain four-cylinder compound when working as a simple 

engine? 






where T is the tractive effort, C the diameter in inches of the 
H. P. cylinder ; c the diameter in inches of the L. P. cylinder ; 
P is the boiler pressure in pounds per square inch, and D is 
the diameter in inches of the drivers. The formula, however, 
reduces to this simpler form: 

(C 2 + c 2 ) X0.425PXS 

T = . 

D 
The constant 0.425 is obtained by cancelation, which elimi- 
nates the figure 2 from the denominator. The constant 0.85 
is the percentage of boiler pressure allowed by the Master 
Mechanics 1 rule for the mean effective pressure in the 
cylinders, 



594 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. Give the adhesion of various types of engine, summer 
and winter f 

A. According to Haswell, they are as follows, the coefficient 
of friction being 0.222 in summer, 0.2 in winter. 

Lbs. on Adhesion. 

Weight. drivers. Summer. Winter. 

American 64,000 42,000 9,350 8,400 

Ten- wheel 78,000 58,000 13,000. 11,600 

Mogul 88,000 72,000 16,000 14,000 

Consolidation 100,000 88,000 !9,550 17,600 

Tank switcher 68,000 68,000 15,100 13,600 

Q. Suppose that zve have an engine with 50,000 pounds on 
the drivers; how much of this will be available for traction ? 

A. That depends on the condition of the rails. If they are 
fairly dry but not sanded, or wet and -sanded, about 10,000 
pounds will be available for traction. If perfectly dry but 
unsanded, about 12,500; if both dry and sanded, about 17,000; 
if wet or frosty (or what engine runners call "greasy") only 
about 8,300 pounds ; with snow or ice on them, less yet. 

Q. How is an engine given increased tractive power in case 
the rails are wet or frosty ? 

A. By sharp clean sand led by pipes directly in front of the 
drivers, a few inches above the rail ; a lever from the cab 
controlling the supply as desired. 

Q. Where is the sand box? 

A. Usually on top of the boiler; but in recent practice one 
has been put lower down, each side, between the drivers, so 
that the sand may be nearer where wanted and have less 
chance to stick in the pipe in case it gets frozen. (See Fig. 
3940 

Q. Is increase in weight per wheel attended by increased 
%v ear of tires and rails? 

A, No; on the contrary, 



TRACTION. 595 

0. Why? 

A. Perhaps because a heavy engine does not respond so 
quickly as a light one to shocks from an uneven track; per- 
haps the lower the center of gravity (in the case of small boil- 
ers and less wheel weights) the more disadvantageous the 
angle at which the flanges strike the rail heads. 




Fig. 394. Sand-box Work. 
1. Base. 2. Top. 3. I,id. 4. Body. 5. Valve. 6. I^ever. 7. Valve Connecting-rod. 

8. Pipe-flange. 

Q. What are the tensile drazv-bar stresses of an engine 
coupling onto its train? 

A. From 65,000 to 142,000 pounds. 

Q. What are the buffing stresses? 

A. Thirty loaded cars moving 6y 2 miles per hour and coup- 
ling on to ten loaded ones with brakes set gave a buffing shock 
of over 375,000 pounds. The Westinghouse dynamometer car 



596 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



striking a loaded 60,000-pound furniture car (standing) 
at a speed of 13J/2 miles an hour gave a shock of over 380,000 
pounds. 

Q. Describe the "auxiliary driver" system? 

A. This is a German idea : 

The engine runs, under ordinary conditions, on five axles, 
viz., a four-wheeled bogie in front, two coupled axles, and a 
trailing carrying axle situated in a Bissell truck. Besides that 
it is fitted with an auxiliary driving axle, between the two 
bogie axles, but not forming part of the bogie, having its 
bearings guided by horn plates extending down from the main 
frame plates outside the bogie frames. The center bogie pin, 
on the casting forming the main cylinders, is just before the 
auxiliary axle. The latter takes its motion from two equal- 




Fig. 394A. Clamp for Broken Rod. 
sized outside cylinders on the main frames in front of the 
leading wheels. The auxiliary valve gear is a modification 
of Joy's. 

The auxiliary engine is used for starting and climbing; 
when not in use the auxiliary drivers are held off the rails 
by springs, and are held down, when in use, by two 7-inch 
steam cylinders. 

Q. What is the traction increaser? 

A. On the "Atlantic" type, with four wheels coupled, a 
trailer under the firebox and a double truck in front, there is 
usually only 54 per cent of the weight on the drivers, so that in 
starting it is usually necessary to have two levers (one on each 
side) extending from immediately under the back ends of the 
back driving springs and connected to the driving-spring 
hangers back under the fire-box, where the back ends are made 



TRACTION. 597 

secure. Then slightly behind the attachment at the front 
ends two 8-inch air cylinders are coupled to these levers, 
being fastened vertically to the frame (push rods down) and 
coupled to the main levers in the usual manner. To transfer 
part of the weight from the trailer to the driver, air from. the 
main reservoir is admitted to the 8-inch cylinders, with the 
result that about 8 per cent more weight pulls down on the 
back spring hanger of the main driving spring. 

The device for operating the traction increaser from the 
cab is a two-way cock, one way making a direct channel for 
air from the main reservoir to the brake cylinders, the other 
to block such channel and open the exhaust from the cylinder 
to the atmosphere. 

0. What are the advantages of traction increasers? 
A. They save sand, and enable the train to be pulled out of 
a hole when otherwise they might not. 

0. What are their disadvantages? 

A. They are hard on springs, the sand wears the rails on 
curves and grades, and wears the tires, which are generally 
softer than the rails. 

Q. In how many ways may grades be expressed, and what 
are they? 

A, Four: (1) per cent of grade; (2) rise in feet per mile; 
(3) length of grade to a foot rise; (4) angle with the hori- 
zontal. For instance, a 2 per cent grade is 105.6 feet per 
mile, or fifty to one, or 1 degree 9 minutes = 1 3-20 degree 
from the horizontal. 

Q. What makes an engine "slippy"? 

A. (1) Too much cylinder power for the weight on drivers ; 
(2) very hard steel tires on hard steel rails; (3) badly- worn 
tires; (4) too short wheel base; (5) too limber driving 
springs. 

0. How may slipping often be diminished? 



59$ LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. By throttling and working nearly full stroke. 
Q. What is the reason for this? 

A. The steam pressure (hence also the work on the crank 
pins) is more uniform during the stroke. 

0. What is the disadvantage? 

A. Losing the benefits of expansion in steam consumption. 
Q. What is the effect of sanding the rail while engine is 
slipping, zvithout first shutting off the steam? 

A. To strain rods and pins up to the danger point. 

Q. Is it good policy to allow sand to run from the pipe only? 

A. No. It wrenches the pins and connections. 

Q. Does it hurt an engine to slip her, after you get her out 
of the roundhouse, in order to get the condensed steam out of 
the ports and steam zvays? 

A. The best way is to start back slowly, with cylinder cocks 
open, until the water is worked pretty well out of the passage- 
ways and cylinders. This should suffice, but it does not, 
always ; thus making it desirable to slip the engine two or 
three turns to get out all the condensed steam. Of course, 
there is always danger of blowing out a cylinder head if much 
water is in the cylinders. Opening the throttle wide and 
excessive slipping is unwise, even dangerous. Sometimes the 
slipping, caused by a wide-open throttle, draws water from the 
boiler into the cylinders and throws it out through the stack. 
Some roads object to the practice; others tolerate it. It pro- 
tects a polished jacket and clean front end. 

Q. What causes an engine to slip at high speed, with steam 
shut off? 

A. Centrifugal force of the counterbalance weights, slightly 
lifting the wheels from the rails. 

Q. Where is this most noticeable? 

A. In engines having heavy reciprocating parts which are 
partly counterbalanced. 



TRACTION. 599 

Q. Then why should these be counterbalanced? 

A. For slow speeds it gives smooth riding. 

0. What is the effect of this counterbalance of reciprocating 
parts (which are the piston, crosshead, and from one-fourth to 
two-thirds of the weight of main rod)? 

A. To balance those parts while passing the centers. Such 
balance is productive of smooth riding at slow speed ; but at 
high speeds becomes a disturbing element. 

Q. If an engine slips when shut off, drifting on a damp 
or wet rail, of what is that a sign? 

A. That the main wheels are out of quarter, either origi- 
nally or by reason of axle springing. 

0. What is the effect of catching an engine on sand when 
slipping? 

A. Injurious to the engine generally; puts a breaking stress 
on axles, pins, and rod straps, especially if the sand does not 
run even on both sides. 

0. In using sand on a bad rail, is it necessary to let a con- 
tinuous stream run? 

A. No. When moving, say, twenty miles per hour, a little 
sand every telegraph pole will keep the engine to the rail. 

0. Why zi'ould it not be better to let it run all the time and 
save the trouble of working the sander or sand lever? 

A. Sand makes a train pull hard ; and much will make it 
pull harder than only a little. 

0. Is it right to use sand on one side only? 

A. No; that puts a bad torsional strain on the axles. 

Q. What effect is that liable to have? 

A. To twist the axles and throw the engine out of quarter; 
if followed up, no doubt start a fracture. 

0. What is the effect of continually sanding the rail in tak- 
ing the run for a hill? 

A. To impede the wheels when the hard pull comes. 



600 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. Will an engine do herself more damage slipping when 
running fast than when running slow? 

A. When an engine, pulling a full load, is just moving, and 
slips, with throttle wide open, the rotations of the driving 
w T heels are numerous compared to the distance moved over, 
and energy is rapidly accumulated by the slipping wheels. 
When they catch, nearly all this energy is converted into 
work, which appears either in the form of a sudden accelera- 
tion of the train speed, a sprung side rod or a damaged part; 
or if it results in a jerk, the train will very likely be broken in 
two. Suppose, however, that this engine slips when moving 
20 or 30 miles per hour. The increase in the number of 
turns, above those which the speed requires, is not so 
great in proportion as in the former case, and when the wheels 
catch, there is not relatively so much rotating energy to be 
dissipated as at slow speeds, and consequently less jar or jerk 
takes place. 

Q. What is the difference between slipping, sliding, and 
skidding? 

A. To slip the wheels is to make them turn without advanc- 
ing, or advancing less than the wheel-rim movement would 
measure. To slide is to block the wheels by the brake shoes 
or otherwise and permit them to move along the rail without 
turning. To skid is the same as to slide, and is generally 
used by British writers. 

RESISTANCES. 

Q. What are the resistances which an engine has to over- 
come? 

A. The rolling friction of the train on the track, and the 
sliding friction of its own parts, including that of its journals 
in their bearings, which is really sliding friction. 

Q. What may be said about the resistances due to journal 
friction and pressure of wind? 



RESISTANCES. 601 

A. They increase with the speed, except that there are 
cases where journal friction has been shown to be rather less 
per ton per mile at one certain speed than at others either 
lower or higher. 

Q. Can you give some figures showing train resistances in 
pounds per ton of load? 

A. On the P. R. R. it has been shown to be equal to the 
square of the speed in miles per hour, divided by 217, and plus 
3; that is, for 15 miles per hour it would be (225 -=-217) -j- 
3 = about 4 pounds; at 20 miles, (400-^-217) +4 = about 
4.8 pounds; at 60 miles, (3,600-7- 217) -f- 3 = about 19.5 
pounds. 

Q. What is the resistance due to curvature of the road? 

A. About one-half pound per ton per degree of curvature. 

Q. Give some idea of the resistance to train due to the 
wind? 

A. On the U. P., with a ten-mile head wind, the coal con- 
sumption was 7,800 pounds ; with the same train, distance and 
track, and a 20-mile wind, 11,300 pounds; being 45 per cent 
increase. 

Q. Supposing the resistance to be in direct proportion to 
the wind-speed, that would have made only 4,300 if there had 
been no wind; and if the wind had been from behind, no coal 
zvould have been needed. What must we conclude? 

A. Either (1) that the resistance increases with the wind 
velocity, or (2) that the figures are wrong. 

Q. What is the resistance of a train at different speeds? 

A. There are too many factors to enable a rule to be laid 
down. One set of experiments with a passenger train gave 
12 pounds pej ton at 30 miles and 16 at 60 miles an hour. 

O. About how many square feet of end surface does an 
ordinary engine expose to the resistance of the -wind? 

A. We will say for the area of the cab front 30 square 



602 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



feet, the boiler front 28, saddle front 5, valve front ends 5, 
cylinder front ends 7 ; total, 75 square feet. 

Q. Can you give some figures concerning the resistance of 
trains on a straight level track on a calm day, at different 
speeds? 

A. The experiments of Wellington, Stroudley, and Vau- 
clain give about as follows : 

RESISTANCE PER TON OE 2,000 POUNDS. 



Miles per hour 


10 
45 


20 
6 


30 

9-5 

9.2 
11 


40 

12 

11. 3 
14 


50 

14 

11 

12.5 

17 


60 

17 
13 


70 


Resistance in pounds per ton of heavy ) 

passenger train (Wellington) j" 

Vauclain , . , 


19 
15 


Iyoaded freight cars 


4 
6 


5-8 
75 




Kmpty freight cars 









Q. What may be said about the train resistance due to 
grades alone? 

A. They can be very exactly calculated. The grade in 
feet per mile, times 0.38, gives the resistance in pounds per 
net ton. 

Q. What about the resistance due to curves alone? 

A. This varies greatly with train length and with the con- 
dition of the curve. Generally y 2 pound per ton is allowed 
for each degree of curvature. 

Q. What is the Barbier formula for resistance of locomo- 
tives and tenders? . 

v + 30 

A. R = 3.8 + 0.9 V — . 

1,000 
Q. What is the corresponding formula for resistance of 
cars? 



v ~f 10 



A. R — T.6 + 0.456 r 



1,000 



MILEAGE AND RUNS. 603 

* Q. Hozu many horse-power would be needed for a train of 
400 tons on a 3.6 grade (190 feet per mile), at 20 miles an 
hour? 

A. For train resistance about 190 H. P. ; for grade resist- 
ance about 1,340 H. P.; in all 1,530 H. P. (independent of 
internal friction of engine). 

Q. Horn many H, P. for the same train at 10 miles, same 
grade ? 

A. For train resistance about 50, for grade resistance about 
770; total, 820 H. P. 

Q. For the same train at 10 miles on a 300-foot grade? 

A. For train resistance 50; for grade resistance 1,215; 
total, 1,265 H - p - 

MILEAGE AND RUNS. 

Q. How long should an engine run before the valves need 
facing? 

A. That depends on the road, on the engines, on the serv- 
ice, and on the engine runner. On the N. J. C. and the P. & R., 
John Cline made with engine No. 172, 82,000 miles before 
the valves needed facing; this engine having the Allan valve, 
balanced. Before balancing the valves, it was hard to get en-' 
gines of the same lot to run 20,000 without facing. Engine 
Xo. 165, on the same road, John Rhodes on the foot plate, 
made 13,411 miles on express train running before 
the engine was jacked up, the fire-box needing no work and 
the principal boiler work done being taking out and resetting 
the flues. 

0. Give an instance of locomotive mileages in regular serv- 
ice? 

A. On the N. Y. C. & H. R. R. R., engine 84 after coming 
out of the shop, was put on the Chicago Express, running 
from New York to Albany and back, seven days per week, 
284 miles a day, with two crews ; D, Caffin one day and E, 



604 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Stamford the next. Before any work was done to fire-boxes 
or flues she had run 26 months, making 165,000 miles; and 
then got only light repairs to machinery, and nothing to 
heating surface; the water used not being good. She had 
Buchanan fire-box. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Q. In designing a locomotive, zvhat are the principal con- 
ditions to be met, and in zvhat order? 

A. Safety, efficiency, reliability, economy of fuel, oil and 
repairs, and beauty ; the latter where possible. 

Q. On zvhat does, the efficiency of a locomotive depend? 

A. On the size of cylinders and wheels, the valve gear, 
boiler and steam passages, and on the speed, the grade, and 
curvature of the track, and the friction. 

Q. Hozv can the speed be calculated zvhere the distance be- 
tween points, and the time consumed, are known? 

A. Multiply the miles by 60 and divide by the minutes. 
Thus 5 miles in 6 minutes = 5 X 60 -=- 6 = 50 miles an hour. 

Q. What is the distance between telegraph poles in the- U. 
S. and Canada? 

A. 55 yards or 32 per mile, so that the number of poles 
passed in 19 seconds gives nearly the speed in miles per hour. 

Q. Hozv many rail lengths to a mile? 

A. Usually 5,280 -f- 30 = 176. 

Q. What is a quick method of approximating the speed of 
the train on which yon ride? 

A. If the rails are 30 feet long, count the number you pass 
in 20 seconds and you will come very near the speed in miles 
per hour, as 5,280-1-30=176, and 3,600-^20=180, which 
is not so far out. A trifle nearer would be to count the num- 
ber of rails in 41 seconds and multiply by two; thus 3,600 -f- 
41 =87.8; which is practically the half of 176. 

Q. Can a locomotive be run with compressed air? 



ACCIDENTS TO BOILER. 605 

A. Yes ; but there is usually in all compressed-air motors 
where there is no heating arrangement, difficulty with the ex- 
haust, the sudden expansion causing intense cold, which 
freezes the moisture contained in the air, and the oil, and 
chokes up the exhaust passages. 

Q. Give a good recipe for cleaning the gum from the paint 
of driving zvheels? 
A. Kerosene oil. 

ACCIDENTS CONNECTED WITH BOILER AND ACCESSORIES. 

Q. Where should the cleaning process be begun on a boiler? 
A. In the lower parts, working gradually upward. 

Q. If you had an engine with a common ash pan, and you 
burned or broke your dump grate, how would you fix up, so 
as to avoid delay? 

A. If the grate was burned or broken, so I could not make 
it stay, I would fill up from the bottom of ash pan to the level 
of the good grates with cobbles or scrap iron, spread the fire 
over, and go along. 

Q. If you broke or burned the "drop" grate on an engine 
that had a deep or "hopper" ash pan, how would you -fix up? 

A. Pull the fire back off the front of the remaining grates 
for three feet or so, then (if near a section house) bridge the 
opening with splices laid lengthwise. If I could not get splices, 
I would take the next best thing I could get. 

Q. Would it be possible to draw your train any distance 
with the drop grate down? 

A. No ; if a space of the size of the drop grate in any engine 
were open, all the air that the exhaust would draw, could 
pass up through it, and the fire on the remaining grate 
would not burn enough to maintain steam, even with light 
engines. 



606 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What do you mean by "all the air that the exhaust would 
draw"? 

A. All the air needed to fill the vacuum made by the ex- 
haust in the smoke box. 

Q. What is "honey-comb"? 

A. A sulfuret of iron forming on flue-sheets. 

Q. What is it most likely to form? 

A. Where the flues have large end beads, or are weak and 
sweating, or the sheets are covered with mud on the inside 
(hence hotter than if clean). 
- Q. What classes of coal cause it to form? 

A. Those containing much sulfur. 

Q. Where is the shell usually most pitted? 

A. Below the checks, and around rivets, studs, or tap bolts, 
as for instance where the guide yoke or the frame brace angles 
are fastened to the shell. 

Q. What should be done if a gage-glass breaks? 

A. If there are automatic valves to close it, it is only neces- 
sary to put in a new glass ; otherwise the hand-valves will 
have to be depended upon ; both cocks should be shut off and 
the gage-cocks tested as frequently as the water-glass would 
have been looked at. 

Q. Should the glass of a zvater-gage break, that had no 
automatic valve, what should be done? 

A. The hand-valve closed. 

Q. How may non-automatic water-gages be cleaned? 

A. By removing the valves and punching clear through 
with a steel wire of the same diameter as the bore of the fit- 
ting. 

Q. What should be done in case of a burst Hue? 

A. If it does not put out the fire, the engine man should 
dump this latter ; he should lower the steam-pressure in order 
to save the water in the boiler ; then he should plug the flue. 



ACCIDENTS TO BOILER. 607 

Q. With what should it be closed? 

A. With an iron plug held in a special pair of tongs while 
being driven in; or if no iron one is carried, by a wooden plug. 

Q. What precaution should be taken in driving Hue-plugs? 
A. Not to drive too hard, lest the flue-sheet be broken. 

Q. If a zvooden plug is used, what precaution should be 
taken? 

A. To drive it into the flue for some distance. 

Q. Where are zvooden Hue-plugs apt to be unreliable? 
A. In case of a burst in the flue when near the flue-sheet. 

Q. Hozc far should a wooden plug be driven in a Hue in 
case of a burst? 

A. About six inches. 

Q. Why will it not burn up? 

A. It cannot, inside the flue, as little or no air can get at 
it to supply oxygen for its combustion. 

Q. Hozv can you clear the smoke-box from smoke in case 
of the necessity of plugging a Hue? 

A. By putting on the blower slightly. 

Q. Hozv can you get at the Hue to plug it? 

A. By putting a plank on the coal. 

0. Under what circumstances cannot you very well calk or 
plug a burst Hue? 

A. If there is a brick-arch or similar obstruction in the fire- 
box. 

0. What is the proper treatment for an engine with old 
and tender or leaky Hues? 

A. Regular pumping, holding steady pressure, keeping a 
light, even fire, keeping cold air from the flues, letting the 
fire die out when the time comes, slowly shutting dampers 
after going into the round-house, and covering the stack after 
the fire is cleaned. 



60$ LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. How may leaky tubes or stay-bolts be cured tempor- 
arily? 

A. By putting in the feed some starchy substance, as bran, 
potatoes, or rye-flour. 

Q. What is the effect of too liberal dosing this way? 
A. Foaming. 

Q. What is the permanent remedy? 
A. Calking. 

Q. If the petticoat pipe falls down and fouls the exhaust 
tip, how may the trouble be removed on the road? 

A. The smoke-box door may be opened, the netting trap 
door removed and the pipe taken out. 

Q. Is not this difficult, by reason of the smoke and hot gases 
in the smoke box? 

A. It is not necessary to get into the smoke box to remove 
the split keys from the netting trap door bolts. In most 
cases one can stand on the pilot sheet, and with cold chisel 
and hammer draw the keys from the bolts by inserting the 
chisel in the loop of the key and striking it gently until it 
comes out. When all keys are removed, the trap door may be 
taken out and the rake used to haul the petticoat from over 
the exhaust; it may then be taken out and placed on the tank. 
The netting trap may then be replaced and the smoke-box door 
closed. 

Q. Suppose an engine suddenly begins to steam badly and 
the pressure falls from say 200 to 80 pounds, and that when 
it is shut off the smoke and blaze come out around the fire- 
box door; what is probably the matter? 

A. The petticoat pipe is down; perhaps only one of the 
hangers is broken and the pipe is lying so that the exhaust is 
turned to one side of the stack base. 

Q. Suppose that the diaphragm, or its slide or plate, falls 
down and "smothers" the engine? 



CHANGING A BOILER. 609 

A. The engineman should open the smoke-box door, get a 
pinch bar or something else that will serve as a pry, insert 
it under the diaphragm or plate, pry it up and shove the bar 
into one of the flues. When the diaphragm is as high as 
wanted, the other end of the bar should be rested on the flange 
of the smoke-box door, or it should be blocked up on a steam 
pipe, and the door closed. 

Q. In order to change the boiler, what must be done? 

A. The engine must be stripped, the wheels, truck and back 
frames removed ; if there is no crane to lift the boiler, it must 
be run off and trucks placed under the mud-ring and just back 
of the cylinder saddle. The distance between the front of the 
water leg and the back of the cylinder saddle must be meas- 
ured on a wooden strip before the boiler is loosened. The 
cylinders should be blocked up level both ways, the back ends 
of the front frames supported by screw jacks, all scale and 
dirt removed from the saddle top, and the new boiler run 
ahead on trucks until the distance between the saddle back 
and the front of the water legs is the same as with the old 
boiler. The front end of the boiler should be lowered by a 
jack nearly to the saddle and the front end set central to the 
cylinders by running over the barrel a line weighted on both 
ends, and measuring between the hanging ends of this line 
and the inner sides of the cylinder. The back end is then 
to be plumbed in the same way; it first being made sure that 
the boiler-leg sides are parallel with each other and with the 
boiler axis. The boiler must be level lengthwise. Lines 
should be run through the cylinder axis to the back end of 
the boiler; and the latter set equidistant therefrom. The 
smoke arch is then to be fitted to the saddle by a line on 
the back and one on the front of the saddle. A wooden 
templet being made of the curve of the smoke arch at the 
front, the saddle must be chipped to fit this. The frames are 
then to be put up and lined. 



610 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What are the usual causes of incontrollable throttle? 

A. (i) Breaking or coming out of bell-crank bolts or other 
connecting bolts within the dome, (2) breaking of a throttle- 
valve rod, (3) working off of nuts in the connecting pieces, as 
on the top of the throttle-valve stem; (4) sudden reversal 
causing the steam-pipe release-valve (where there is one to 
keep undue pressure from the pipe) to jump out and leave a 
passage for steam between boiler and valve-chest. 

Q. How would you handle an engine if the throttle became 
disconnected while open? 

A. Reduce pressure and handle with reverse lever and 
brakes. 

Q. If you had just left a terminal, would you go on? 

A. If I had an important train, and could not give it up 
without long delay, yes ; if relief were handy, no. 

Q. Suppose the throttle should fail when open, at a time 
when the engine was working on damp rails, causing bad 
slipping; what should be done? 

A. The reverse-lever should be put in mid-gear. 

Q. Should you use sand in case of the throttle being stuck 
open? 

A. No, at least as little as possible, as it would injure the 
machinery if used too liberally; the engine could be controlled 
by the reverse-bar. 

Q. What should be done in case of the throttle getting dis- 
connected inside the body while open and the engine running? 

A. The fire-door should be opened and the engine cooled to 
let the steam-pressure down to a point at which the engine 
could be controlled by working it with the reverse-lever. The 
train-men should be notified and the train worked to a siding 
by the reverse-lever and controlled by the power brake. 

Q. I11 case of the throttle-valve being stuck shut, can the 
engine be run? 



DISCONNECTING THROTTLE. 611 

A. Yes, if there are tallow-pipes from the cab to the steam- 
chest, the engine may be run by them without train. 

0. What should be done in case of the throttle being dis- 
connected while closed? 

A. The train should be guarded against approaching trains, 
and help sent for to the nearest telegraph station; the boiler 
should be well filled, the fire dumped, and (unless there was 
danger of freezing up) steam blown off.' The engine should 
be disconnected ready for towing in : if it was a line on which 
there was not much traffic or if I could make a siding, I 
should take off the dome-cap and try to fix the valve. 

0. What accident is much like an unshipped throttle. 9 

A. Blowing out or unseating the relief-valve between the 

throttle and the boiler, provided on some engines to prevent 

bursting of the pipe in case of sudden reversal. 

0. What should be done in case of the bursting or unseat- 
ing of the throttle relief-valve? 

A. Just as in the case of an unshipped throttle. 

0. Suppose it is found that the nuts on top of the throttle- 
valve stem have worked oft , leaving the valve closed, what is 
to be done? 

A. The valve should be opened, to let steam to the chests, 
and after the dome-cover is replaced and steam got up, the 
engine should be run as in the case of an unshipped throttle, 
as the valve in this case cannot be closed, unless there should 
happen to be spare nuts about, or the old ones can be found. 

Q. Hoik' can you tell whether it is the throttle or the dry 
pipe that is leaking? 

A. If it is the throttle the steam that comes out will be dry ; 
if the dry pipe, it will be accompanied with a constant drip 
of water. 

O. Hozv' can the cylinders be oiled in case of a broken 
throttle-valve? 



612 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. If there are automatic lubricators that work with steam 
on, there will be no difficulty ; but if there are no such feeders, 
the best way is to oil from the cab when running down grade 
at high speed ; or on a level track, with a low fire, getting up 
a burst of speed and putting feed full on; then as the steam 
drops the reverse-lever should be put in full motion, when 
oiling can usually be done. 

Q. How can the valves be oiled when the throttle is discon- 
nected and there are no automatic feeders? 

A. At the top of a grade, by letting the steam down and 
running at high speed ; or on a level, by letting the fire down 
low, running fast, putting on full speed, and putting the re- 
verse lever in full motion. 

Q. In case the safety-valve should stick shut at a time when 
there is over-pressure, should it be jerked open? 

A. No ; as sudden release of steam pressure is apt to cause 
an explosion; and the same may be said about sudden opening 
of the throttle. A great many explosions have occurred just 
at the moment of starting it, and from this cause. 

Q. In case of over-pressure and non-working safety valve, 
what should be done? 

A. The pressure may be relieved by putting on the feed, 
opening the heaters, and damping the fire ; and the whistle 
may then be muffled and tied open. 

Q. How may leaky steam-pipe joints be located? 
A. By opening the smoke-box door and giving the engine 
steam. 

Q. What is the effect of a burst dry-pipe? 
A. The engineman cannot shut ofif steam, but control by 
the reverse lever is even harder than with stuck-open throttle. 

0. What is to be done in this case, if the reverse-lever gets 
beyond control? 



ACCIDENTS TO STEAM PIPE. 613 

A. Brakes on, fire-door open, dampers closed, feed on, 
whistle muffled and open, fire damped. 

Q. What are the bad effects of leaky steam-pipe joints? 
A. They waste steam and lessen the draft. 

Q. In case of a broken whistle-valve what should be done? 
A. The whistle-bell should be muffled with waste or other 
material. 

Q. Can you locate the trouble if steam-pipe is leaking? 

A. There will be a hard blow all the time in the fire-box 
even when shut off, particularly with open fire-door. It may 
be more distinctly noticed when the reverse-lever is on the 
center and the throttle wide open. 

Q. What should be done in case of breakage of a steam- 
pipe in the smoke-box? 

A. A wrought-iron plate should be fastened to the top joint 
of the steam-pipe, or a stout hardwood plug driven into the 
opening and braced, if the run is short. 

Q. Is a hardwood plug stopper for a burst steam-pipe very 
reliable? 

A. Not for a long run, as it shrinks by reason of the heat 
in the smoke-box. 

Q. What should be done in case the steam-pipe breaks in- 
side the boiler? 

A. The pressure should be run down and the valve placed 
in the center of its travel by the reverse-lever. If necessary 
to take water, the engine must be kept still by chocking the 
wheels. 

Q. // front end is broken, but flues and steam pipes in good 
order, hozv could you make sufficient repairs to run in with? 

A. Board up front end of smoke arch or close it up some 
way, as with grain doors, so the exhaust would draw air 
through the flues, instead of the break. If the studs in front 
end are good, it is easily done; the curtain will help close the 



614 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

cracks. If the studs are not good, bracing must be resorted 
to. 

Q. Of what is the bursting of the branch-pipe, forcing of 
gaskets, and so on, a sign? 

A. Usually that there is clogging between the check-valve 
and the boiler ; as irom accumulation of lime. 

Q. On an engine zvith the Master Mechanics' front end, 
where would you first look for trouble, if she failed in steaming? 

A. At the petticoat pipe. I would examine the hanger 
bolts, and if loose, would tighten them, but if gone entirely, 
I would open up the front end, and get the bolts back in and 
the pipe in proper position: — if possible, without knocking out 
the fire. But if necessary I would knock it out, trying hard to 
get on the side track before doing so. 

Q. What should be done in case of a broken off or stuck 
open blow-off cock? 

A. The fire should be dumped and the engine disconnected 
ready to be towed in, unless the hole could be plugged. 

Q. How can you plug a hole in the boiler, or a broken blow- 
off cock? 

A. By a wooden plug split at one end, driven in, and tight- 
ened by driving a wedge in the split. 

Q. In case of the boiler check being broken out, what is to 
be done? 

A. The fire hauled or deadened with earth, sand, sods or 
such like. 

Q. What should be done in case of blowing out a safety 
plug from the crown-sheet while on the road? 

A. The train should be disconnected and both sides discon- 
nected ready for towing. 

Q. Should not the fire be drawn or dumped? 

A. No ; the water and steam from the plug-hole would put 
it out. 



ACCIDENTS TO HAND HOLE PLATES. 615 

Q. What is the course in case of a blown-out plug? 
A. Fire killed, hole filled with a soft-wood plug, boiler re- 
filled; then ahead under low steam. 

Q. What should be done in case of a broken blozv-off, or 
of a hole being opened in the boiler, or of other bad leak? 

A. The fire should be drawn, and the engine disconnected 
in order to be towed back to the shop, after the conductor is 
notified to send to the nearest telegraph office. A man should 
be sent back to prevent accident from or to a following train. 

Q. In case of having to disconnect the engine in order to 
be towed to the shop by reason of a leak or other accident to the 
boiler, what parts should be fixed or taken down? 

A. The steam-ports should be closed, the valve-rods and 
main rods disconnected, and the crossheads blocked at one 
end of their stroke. 

Q. How would you be able to know that the steam-ports 
were closed? 

A. By opening the cylinder-cocks and giving the engine a 
little steam, which would show if the ports were not blocked. 
There should also be scribe-marks or prick-punch marks that 
would show the mid-position of the valve. 

Q. What should be done in case of blown-out hand-hole 
plate? 

A. Fire killed ; hand-hole plate repacked and put back with 
an old bolt or one from somew r here else (taking care that the 
eccentric strap clears it) ; boiler refilled if possible, so as to 
proceed. 

Q. What should be done in case of blown-out pop or 
whistle? 

A. Both injectors started, to hold the water; fire killed 
or smothered; the hole plugged with soft wood; then ahead 
under low pressure. 



616 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. In case of broken whistle-valve, hozv can the noise be 
deadened? 

A. By stuffing the bell or cup with waste. 

Q. What must be borne in mind in case of this accident? 
A. That extra feed is necessary. 

Q. Suppose it were a broken-off zvhistle-stem? 
A. The feed must be put on and the fire killed. 

Q. What is to be done for a cracked or broken off blow-off 
cock? 

A. The fire hauled at once; if the injector can feed faster 
than the break can leak, it should be put on. 

Q. In case of foaming, what should be done? 

A. First it should be seen whether the foaming was by 
reason of soap, oil, or alkali in the boiler, or on account of too 
much water; then if it was caused by foreign material in 
the boiler, as would be shown by the try-cocks, with the 
throttle shut off, the surface-cock should be opened to let the 
foul water blow off, and the injectors or pumps put on to keep 
up the level. If by doing this the engine would not get to 
working right, and the water should still discharge from the 
stack, the fire should be drawn or damped to save the boiler. 

Q. What should be done in case of a broken blow-off, or 
of a hole being opened in the boiler, or of other bad leak? 

A. The fire drawn, and the engine disconnected to be 
towed back to the shop, after the conductor was notified to 
send to the nearest telegraph office. A man should be sent 
back of the train to prevent accident from or to a following 
train. 

Q. In case of having to disconnect the engine to be towed 
to the shop in case of leak or other accident to the boiler, what 
parts should be taken down? 

A. The steam-ports should be closed, the valve-rods and 



ACCIDENTS TO PUMPS AND INJECTORS. 617 

main rods disconnected, and the crossheads blocked at one 
end of their stroke. 

ACCIDENTS TO PUMPS AND INJECTORS. 

Q. What should be done in case the pumps will not work 
well? 

A. The tank should be looked at to see that it has plenty 
of water in it; then the tank- valve inspected to see that it is 
connected ; next, the heater-valve opened a few seconds, and the 
pet-cock opened ; then the heater may be closed and the pump 
tried. If then the pump will not work, the next point along 
the line should be tried — the lower pump- joint may be slacked 
to see if the water reaches that far. If it does, the engine 
may be run slowly a few turns and the joint tightened. But 
if the water does not flow freely from the lower joints, there 
must be a choke somewhere in the feed-pipe, strainer, or hose, 
calling for attention in those quarters. If the pump does 
not work, although the water flows freely from the joints, the 
lower valves should be taken out and examined. If they are 
all right and the pump still does not work, it had better be 
taken down at the shop and overhauled. 

Q. Suppose you had an engine with a pump on only one 
side, and broke the slide-valve on that side, what would you 
do? 

A. Block the ports on the crippled side, disconnect the 
valve-stem, take the piston-rod out of the crosshead, and run 
with the good side, the main rod on the crippled side working 
the pump. 

Q. Hozc then could the train be held still in order to take 
water with the pump? 

A. By chocking the wheels. 

Q. What should be done in case of the injectors or pumps 
giving out entirely while on the road? 

A. The engine should be stopped, and the fire damped, to 



618 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

prevent further generation of steam. Then the tank hose 
should be disconnected, the tank valves raised to see if they 
were connected and all right and the tank-hose strainers exam- 
ined to see that they were not stopped up. If it is the pump 
that has given out, it should be taken down to see whether 
the valves are all right; and then tried again. 

Q. What should be done when the feed cannot be main- 
tamed up to the point required to keep the water-level con- 
stant? 

A. After looking for the obstacles which prevent the water 
reaching the boiler or staying therein, then the safety of fire- 
box and flues should be insured by dropping the fire, or better 
yet, by damping it with wet earth or wet coal. 

Q. Should the lire be drenched with water? 

A. Not except as a last resort, as this ruins the sheets, 
especially if of steel. 

Q. Suppose the tender is empty, from leakage or other 
cause ; what should be done? 

A. The fire should be banked or smothered, enough water 
being kept in the boiler, if possible, to enable steam to be 
raised after the engine has been towed to the water-tank. 

Q. How may the boiler be -filled, other than from the tender? 

A. Through the safety-valves. 

Q. How can trouble with the pump usually best be placed? 

A. By opening the pet-cock and watching what sort of a 
stream it throws ; whether it gives the same stream on both 
strokes of the pump, or not, etc. 

Q. What would be the effect of the check-valve being stuck 
open so that the hot water would blow back and heat the pump 
and valves? 

A. The pump might not work, by reason of expansion of 
the valves. 

Q. What may cause pounding of the pump-valves? 



ACCIDENTS TO PUMPS AND INJECTORS. 619 

A. Too much lift. 

Q. Which usually have the greater pump-valve lift, fast or 
slow engines? 
A. Slow. 

Q. How can an engine be 'pumped by towing her with an- 
other engine? 

A. By closing all openings into the boiler except those from 
the tender, opening lazy-cocks, throttle, and injectors, and 
putting the reverse-lever in the motion corresponding to the 
direction in which she is being towed. The main pistons will 
exhaust the air from the boiler, and water will flow in from 
the tender to supply its place. 

Q. Will an injector work unless all the steam is condensed 
by the supply of water? 
A. No. 

Q. Will it sometimes work better if steam-throttle on boiler 
is shut off so as to supply only steam enough to work the in- 
jector? 

A. Yes. 

Q. Will an engine steam any better if this is done? 

A. Yes. 

Q. Will an injector take water from the tank if the air 
cannot get into the tank as fast as the ivater goes out? 

A. Xo. 

Q. If sand or dirt gets in the passages, will the injector 
work? 

A. Xo. 

Q. In case an injector will not work when it has always 
been reliable before, where would you look for the trouble 
in the first place? 

A. In the tank, strainers and all supply-pipe connections. 

Q. If it will not prime at all? 



620 LOCOMOTIVE CATBCHISM. 

A. Then I should suspect an overflow-valve stuck down, 
or a combining-tube broken, or the inside tubes out of line. 

Q. If it primes well, and breaks when opened wide, where 
would you expect to find the trouble? 

A. In insufficient water-supply for steam of the temperature 
of that supplied by the boiler. 

Q. When the boiler-check sticks up or leaks back as water 
comes from the boiler, how do you remedy it? 

A. By jarring on the check-box with a piece of wood. 

Q. Is there more than one check-valve between the in- 
jector and boiler? 

A. Sometimes ; not usually. 

Q. Where a stuck-open check-valve can not be jarred down, 
what should be done? 

A. The lazy cock in the feed-pipe closed ; if there was none, 
the feed pipe plugged at the next water tank. 

Q. Why do this? 

A. To keep the water in the tender cool enough for the 
other injector to lift it, even if this latter could keep the boiler 
full against the leak back. 

Q. How would you keep your zvater-level right while see- 
ing what was the matter zvith the injector, check, or attach- 
ments? 

A. The pressure should be kept down by opening the fire 
door; if it took long to make the examination the fire should 
be banked. 

Q. On which side of the engine are the injectors or pumps 
usually in the worst condition? 

A. On the left, because generally used too seldom and not 
kept properly packed or attended to. 

Q. What is the most natural cause of non-working injector 
or pump? 

A. Lack of water in the tender. 



ACCIDENTS TO PUMPS AND INJECTORS. 621 

Q. When the tender tank is empty and no water station is 
near enough to be reached, how may the boiler be tilled, in 
case there is an unfrozen ditch or other water supply near the 
track? 

A. Through the safety-valves, by means of pails. 

Q. Suppose the tank is empty, the fire-box full and fire 
fierce, there is not enough vcater in the boiler to quench the 
fire, and all near-by sources of water are frozen over, how can 
the fire {too heavy to dump) be smothered ? 

A. If there is snow on the ground, with snow ; if no snow 
is obtainable, the fire-box can be filled nearly to the crown- 
sheet with fine coal and the smoke-box door opened ; then 
with wide-open throttle and reverse-lever well hooked up 
the engine may perhaps be run to a water-station. 

Q. Why "with throttle zcide and reverse lever well hooked 
up"? 

A. To economize steam. 

Q. Why will an "open overflow" injector sometimes work 
well at 160 pounds but not at 180? 

A. The steam is too hot to be entirely condensed by the 
feed. 

Q. Is it any better with closed-oveiHow injectors? 

A. In this particular, yes. 

Q. Is there any counterbalancing disadvantage? 
A. Yes, their "range" is less. 

Q. In the Sellers injector (Fig. 395) can the tubes be re- 
moved if they stop up? 

A. Yes, but if the main check and the steam-valve leak, it 
is disagreeable w r ork. 

Q. In case of stopped-up suction-pipe or strainer, what is 
to be done? 

A. The cam over the overflow valve closed and the starting- 
lever thrown over quickly. 



622 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. What is to be done if the hose-lining is loose and stops 
the injector? 

A. The hose must be opened out with a short nipple or a 
wire spiral. 

Q. If the water is lifted but will not go through the check, 
what is to be done? 

A. Set the lazy-cock at half capacity and rap the cap of the 
main check. 




Fig. 395- Injector -William Sellers & Co. 

Q. Why set the lazy-cock at half capacity? 

A. The back pressure is greater in that position than if full 
open. 

Q. Hozv may the tubes be removed? 

A. Referring to Fig. 395, uncouple the feed pipe and swing 
it one side with a monkey-wrench on the lugs which project 
from the guide (22) for the line check (20) ; unscrew, with- 
drawing the combining and delivery tube (2) and clear them 
out. 

Q. What would cause a double-tube Metropolitan injector 
to lose water at the overflow while working? 

A. Probably a leaky overflow valve. In this injector this 
valve is subject to boiler pressure when working; this causes 
leakage while working, if the valve is worn. 



ACCIDENTS TO PUMPS AND INJECTORS. 623 

Q. Can a Monitor injector be worked with the priming 
nozzle broken out? 

A. Not unless the water in the tank is high enough to run 
into the apparatus. 

Q. When injectors having fixed nozzles get worn in this 
part, what should be done? 

A. The nozzles should be replaced by new ones. 

Q. If you were running an engine that carried a pressure 
of 180 pounds, and the injectors would not work well enough 
to keep boiler full of zvater, what would. you do? 

A. Reduce the steam pressure to 170 or 160 pounds. 

Q. Why would reducing the steam pressure help? 
A. Steam at 160 pounds has a lower temperature than at 
180, and is therefore more easily condensed. 

Q. What should be done in case both the pumps and the 
injector fail? 

A. The fire should be covered dead ; the engine stopped as 
soon as possible, and examination of the line of water from 
the tank to the lower pump-valve made as in the case of only 
the pump failing; the injector feed-pipe should be examined, 
because a very small leak here is apt to stop the injector. See 
that there is no obstruction in the steam-nozzle; and that the 
branch-pipe is clear. 

Q. When the injector gives out, where is the source of 
trouble usually to be found? 

A. In the tank ; either it is empty or the strainer is choked. 

Q. What is another cause? 

A. Hot tubes caused by leakage of steam through throttle 
or check, so that the apparatus will not prime. 

Q. For gritty water, what check-valve setting is inadvis- 
able? 

A. Horizontal. 



624 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What is the most simple way of putting to rights a 
check-valve that remains open? 

A. Jarring the casing, but with a piece of wood so as to 
avoid deforming the casting. 

Q. What is the great enemy of good working of an in- 
jector? 

A. Leaky joints in the supply side of the pipe line. 

Q. What is the action of the air which leaks in? 

A. To decrease the speed of the water, hence its power to 
open the boiler-check. 

Q. Name another source of failure of an injector to work? 

A. Loose tubes, which get out of axial line and break the 
stream. 

Q. Where injectors are coated internally with scale or 
other deposit, hoiv may they best be worked? 

A. With low steam. 

Q. How can an injector be kept from freezing? 

A. It should have frost-cocks so that all pipes from and to 
it can be bled. The pipes- should be free from pockets or 
sinks, but if these are unavoidable they should have bleeders. 

Q. In case the injector does not work and the trouble is 
not in the tank-valve , what should be done? 

A. The entire pipe line looked to for leaks. 

Q. What should be done in case the injector works all 
right except when the engine is running fast? 

A. The experiment may be tried of putting at the end of 
the feed-pipe a washer with only a small hole. 

Q. Should an injector get over-hot, what should be done? 

A. Cooled from without; or the hot water let escape at the 
screen ; or the tank- valve removed and the water blown back 
into the tender. 

Q. What should be done in case of the injectors or pumps 
entirely giving out while on the road? 



ACCIDENTS TO PUMPS AND INJECTORS. 625 

A. The engine should be stopped, and the fire damped, to 
prevent further steaming. Then the tank-hose should be dis- 
connected, the tank-valves raised to see if they were con- 
nected and all right, and the tank-hose strainers examined to 
see that they were not stopped up. If it is the pump that has 
given out, it should be taken down to see that the valves are 
all right, and then tried again. 

Q. Suppose that the water in the boiler should get danger- 
ously low, what should be done? 

A. The fire should be drawn, or damped with sand, earth, 
or with coal dirt. 

Q. In case you got out of water in the tender, on the road, 
what would you do? 

A. Bail into the tank with a pail from nearest supply ; or 
shovel snow in and melt it with steam on one side only. 

Q. In ease there was no water supply, zi'hat would you do? 

A. Either bank the fire or dump it, as the case might be — 
depending on the distance I would have to be towed to the 
next water-station, and the time which would elapse before I 
got there. 

0. // the boiler and tender n'ere empty? 

A. Draw the fire and send for help. 

Q. How could she be filled up with hot waster from a live- 
engine, if you have a hose and suitable connections? 

A. By connecting the hose from the injector of the live 
engine to the check-valve of the dead one. 

Q. When an engine dies on the road in freezing weather,. 
what should you do? 

A. Empty the tender and boiler and break all joints at 
places likely to have "pockets" of water, which have no pet- 
cocks or other appliances for draining them; blow steam 
through the pipes. Empty the lubricators of water ; blow oft* the 



626 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

boiler clear and dry (by taking out the wash-out plugs if 
necessary), disconnect for being towed in dead. 

0. How would you fill the boiler with water and get the 
engine alive, when fire is drawn on account of low water? 

A. Remove the whistle or the safety-valve, and fill through 
the opening where it was ; using pails unless there are small 
hose facilities. 

Q. Why should the water be let out of the tank and boiler 
in excessively cold weather? 

A. To prevent the sudden expansion of the water in freez- 
ing deforming or straining them. 

0. Why should all pumps and injectors and their pipes be 
drained in freezing weather, when put out of service? 

A. To prevent freezing and bursting. 

Q. What is the best way to get the steam out of pumps and 
injectors and their pipes in putting them out of service? 

A. To blow steam through them. 

Q. What is to prevent them filling again, in case there are 
leaky tank-valves or check-valves? 

A. The frost-plugs should be taken out, if there are any; 
if there are none the joints should be slacked, to permit 
leakage. 

Q. What can be said of putting water on the fire? 

A. It should never be done without first damping it with 
sods, sand, or similar deadening material, else scalding would 
be apt to result from the steam coming from the fire-door. 

Q. In case of its being necessary to dump a fire while stand- 
ing on a bridge or trestle, what precaution must be taken? 

A. First to close the ash-pan dampers. 

Q. Name some of the common causes for injectors not 
working? 

A. Leaky suction pipe ; obstructed strainer or one of insuf- 
ficient size; liming up of nozzles; loose hose lining; obstruc- 



ACCIDENTS TO PUMPS AND INJECTORS. 627 

tions, as pieces of coal, or other foreign matter washed in from 
the tank, in the nozzles ; obstructions in the delivery pipe, as 
a sticking boiler check; leaky steam valve and boiler check, 
heating the suction pipe and feed water. 

Q. What should be done with check-valve stuck open? 

A. If it has no stop valve, close the heater cock and water- 
valve of the injector, to prevent water from the boiler from 
running out through the latter. In this case, reliance for 
feeding the boiler must be had on the injector, the check of 
which must be in good condition. If the boiler check has a 
stop valve, this can be closed to shut off the boiler pressure 
therefrom, in which case the check can be taken out for clean- 
ing or for the removal of the causes which made it stick open. 

Q. Hon 1 may one know whether the check valve or the steam 
valve is leaking? 

A. By opening the frost-cock, with which all delivery pipes 
and most check valves are provided. If water issue there- 
from, the check-valve leaks. To determine whether the steam 
valve leaks, the cock cap and check should be removed. If 
the steam valve leaks, steam will issue through the opening. 

Q. What may be done in this case? 

A. The check-valve and the injector must be reported for 
repair, and the leaky valves ground in at the shop. 

Q. What must be done if a combining tube is obstructed? 
A. It must be taken out, the nozzles cleaned, and obstruc- 
tions removed. 

Q. Hon may it be determined if the trouble is on account 
of a leaky suction pipe? 

A. When the suction-pipe leaks, the injector works with a 
hoarse, rumbling sound, caused by the air drawn in through 
the leaks. A leaky suction-pipe may also be determined by 
closing the tank valve, and opening the steam valve of the 
injector slightly, with the heater cock closed. If there is a 



628 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

leak anywhere in the suction line, the steam under such cir- 
cumstances will issue through it. 

Q. What should be done in case of obstructed hose or 
strainer? 

A. The connection between hose and strainer should be 
broken, and, with the heater cock closed, steam blown back 
through the strainer. The water allowed to flow through the 
open hose will usually wash out the obstruction. In most 
cases it will be sufficient to remove the strainer' waste cap 
and allow water from the tank to flow through. 

Q. What should be done in case the feed water in the tank 
is too hot? 

A. To get fresh water as soon as possible, to reduce the 
temperature. 

Q. Will an injector work if all the steam is not condensed 
by water? 

A. No. 

Q. If necessary to take down the tank hose, how can the 
water be prevented from flowing out of a tank that has the 
siphon connection instead of the old style tank valve? 

A. By opening the air vent at the top of the pipe. Siphon 
pipes are usually large enough to admit air when the hose is 
disconnected, so that there is little danger of the water being 
siphoned out. 

Q. How can the zvater in the delivery pipe be protected 
from freezing in cold weather? 

A. If the injector is not in use for a long period, the frost 
cock in the delivery pipe should be opened. 

Q. How would you prevent the waste pipe freezing either 
zvhile the injector is working or when shut off? 

A. As the waste pipe contains water only during the short 
period in starting, and as even then it flows out rapidly, the 
danger of freezing is remote. When the injector is not work- 



ACCIDENTS TO CYLINDERS. 629 

ing, the waste pipe is empty. Gradual freezing as a result 
of a leaky lifting valve or steam valve may be prevented by 
occasionally opening the lifting valve slightly, and allowing 
steam to blow through the waste pipe. 

Q. How can the suction pipe and injector hose be protected 
from freezing? 

A. By using the injector as a heater. 

Q. How is the heater used on a lever type Monitor injector? 

A. By closing down the heater cock, and opening the lever 

very slightly, and fastening it by the thumbscrew on its side. 

Q. How is the heater used with a screw type Monitor in- 
jector? 

A. By closing down the heater cock and opening the steam 
valve about a turn. 

Q. How should an injector be stopped? 

A. The steam valve should be pressed firmly and gradually 
on its seat, avoiding (particularly in the case of a lever in- 
jector) closing of the valve with a shock, which injures it 
and its seat, and tends to loosen these seats, where they are 
inserted in the valve body. 

ACCIDENTS TO CYLINDERS. 

Q. What may cause breakage of a cylinder-head? 

A. A broken main crank-pin or crosshead-pin, a loose pis- 
ton-rod key working out, a follower-bolt nut working off or 
head breaking, part of a piston-packing ring catching in the 
steam-passage, or a broken crosshead or piston-rod. 

Q. What should be done in case of breakage, or of blowing 
out of a cylinder-head? 

A. If not near the end of a run, the disabled side should 
have its valve-rod disconnected and the ports closed, the lat- 
ter to be proved by opening both cylinder-cocks and giving a 
little steam. Then the valve-rod on that side should be jam- 



630 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

med fast by the stuffing-box gland, which should have the 
nut screwed up on only one side so as to cock it. The main 
rod should be disconnected and, sometimes, the crosshead 
blocked at one end of the guides. 

Q. If you blew out a cylinder head near the end of a run, 
horn would you manage ? 

A. Take out the back cylinder cock, cover the ports and 
run in with main rod up. 

Q. Why would you take out the cylinder-cock? 

A. So that when the piston was coming to back end of 
cylinder there would not be so much compression. 

Q. Why should not the crosshead always be blocked, in 
case of a broken cylinder-head? 

A. As a usual thing the break lets the steam out and the 
piston cannot be sent to either end of the cylinder. 

Q. What should be done in case both front cylinder-heads 
are broken? 

A. If the piston and valve-gear are all right the front 
steam-ports may be blocked with wood and the engine run 
with all the train that it can take, with the back cylinder ends. 
If they are not all right, the engine should be disconnected on 
both sides and made ready for towing in. 

Q. What should be done in case of blozving out the stuffing- 
box gland and breaking off one lug and one stud? 

A. Most of the packing should be taken out, the gland run 
clear back into the box, and the lug bolted solid to the head 
by the remaining stud. 

Q. What might be done in case of both stuffing-box lugs 
being broken off? 

A. The outside of the gland-body might be wrapped with 
cloth and forced into the box by a jack. 

Q. What would you do in case of breakage of the body of 
a gland? 



ACCIDENTS TO CYLINDERS. 631 

A. Disconnect the engine on that side. 

0. If you broke both gland studs illicit would you do;'' 
A. Put a small amount of packing in the box and wedge in 
the gland. 

0. How would you wedge it? 

A. On an engine with the ordinary four-bar guides, wedge 
between the guides and the remnant of the gland, using the 
long taper wedges that hold the. brake shoes to the head on 
tenders or cars. 

0. // it were any other style of guide bar? 
A. Put a little packing in the box, wrap some cloth or 
canvas around the gland, and force it into the box. 

Q. How would you force it in? 

A. Place the engine on that side within an inch of the end 
of travel ahead, to cover the back steam port, put a block be- 
tween crosshead end and gland, and move engine ahead a 
little,, thus forcing the gland in. 

0. What is to be done in case the metallic packing gives 
out on the road? 

A. The stuffing-box removed, any of the old packing left, 
that can be ; temporary packing made of wicking or old cloth 
to fill the cone ; then the stuffing-box replaced. 

0. . Would you take out the cylinder-cock at the end the 
piston is in? 

A. Xo : I should block the cylinder-cocks open : disconnect- 
ing the cylinder-cock rod if necessary. 

0. What other way is there of shutting off the cylii 
than blocking the valve or boarding over the ports? 

A. Where there is a neck joint between the chest and the 
smoke-arch, this may be uncoupled and the rings replaced by 
a piece of board and an old shovel blade, the latter towards 
the smoke-arch. 



632 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. W hat should be done in case the relief -valve is blown 
out from the steam-chest? 

A. The hole may be plugged from the inside. 

Q. Can an engine be run with both front heads or both 
back heads broken or disabled? 

A. Yes, by blocking the ports at that end and running 
with the other end only. 

Q. What should be done in case cylinder-lubricators do not 
work right? 

A. All the cocks should be taken off and the lubricator-cup 
taken off, while the engine is drifting without steam. 

Q. What will be the effect of this? 

A. Probably to draw air through them and clean them out. 

Q. What precaution should be taken in taking down a 
cylinder-head, as regards the nuts? 

A. To lay them in such order that each can be put back in 
the place from which it was taken. 

Q. What is a good way to hold a crosshead at one end of 
the guides? 

A. To have a one-and-a-half inch iron hook to pass around 
the crosshead-pin, the end of this hook being threaded; hook 
this around the pin, with the crosshead at the back end of 
the stroke, pass the threaded end of the hook through a hole 
in a straight piece'of iron about four by one and a half inches, 
which is placed across the straight piece which bears against 
the yoke supporting the back end of the guides; run a nut 
up on the threaded end of the hook, and the crosshead will 
be held at stroke-end. 

Q. It frequently happens that a piece will be broken out of 
a locomotive cylinder or other casting that can be patched, 
and the expense of replacing the whole obviated. Give a good 
method of doing this? 

A. The main casting is cut off inside the crack to a fairly 



ACCIDENTS TO PISTON AND ROD. 633 

uniform line. A model is then made by means of the portion 
cut off, to fit over the end of the break and make the neces- 
sary junctions with the adjoining parts of the machine. The 
lower half of the mold flask is fitted around the broken end 
of the casting and well secured thereto, and the joint sealed 
with clay. The model is then set into the flask over the 
broken end, on which it, of course, should lap a certain 
amount, and the molding is proceeded with. The upper half 
of the flask has, of course, a core fitting into the hollow of 
the broken end, if such there be. Before casting, the broken, 
end is well warmed by a charcoal fire placed within. 

ACCIDENTS TO PISTON AND ROD. 

Q. What would you do in case the piston head broke? 

A. Disconnect that side unless the whole piston was gone, 
in which case I would leave the main rod up and block the 
valve in the middle. 

Q. Is there any means of detecting a cracked follozcer-plate 
or head without removing the cylinder head? 

A. No. 

Q. What is the effect of a follower bolt working out? 

A. It will cause a "pound," by its head striking the front: 
cylinder head. 

Q. Will shutting the engine off stop such a "pound"? 

A. No ; in that case it would strike harder, because there 
would be no steam in the cylinder to "cushion" the piston. 

0. When you have reason to believe that a follower bolt is 
loose, what should you do? 

A. Stop the engine at once, take off the cylinder head, and 
tighten or remove the bolt. 

Q. If the follower-head bolt broke and smashed the piston 
entirely off the rod, how would you disconnect? 

A. If the piston rod were not badly bent, remove the broken 
stuff, disconnect the valve stem, cover the ports and go along. 



634 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

0. Do you know of anything being done to prevent such 
failures? 

A. Some roads are making the pistons solid, cutting grooves 
therein for the packing and springing the rings into place; 
the diameter of the rings being about one-fourth of an inch 
greater than that of the cylinder bore. 

Q. If the piston is fastened to one end of its stroke, what 
should be done with the cylinder-cocks ? 
A. They should be tied open or taken off. 

0. What is the reason for this? 

A. To prevent knocking out the cylinder-head or smashing 
the piston in case the blocking gives out. 

Q. What is a hasty way to keep a piston at one end of the 
cylinder? 

A. Push it to the end, and push the valve in the same 
direction so as to keep the steam-port open at the end furthest 
from the piston; thus keeping the cylinder full of steam 
pressing against the piston. 

Q. What is the objection to. this? 

A. If the valve should get away from its position, .to the 
opposite end of the seat, the steam would move the piston 
back and smash out the head. 

Q. What is the objection to putting the valve in mid- 
position and leaving the piston unfastened? 

A. If the valve should slip there might be a smashed piston 
or cylinder-head. 

Q. What precaution should be taken with the follower bolts 
in dismounting the piston? 

A. To lay them in such position that each one can be put 
back in the exact place from which it came. 

0. How can a piston be got in the center of the cylinder? 
A. By a pair of inside calipers or by a stick cut to length; 



ACCIDENTS TO PISTON AND ROD. 635 

or better yet by a wire pointed at each end, and of the proper 
length. 

Q. In packing a piston, what precaution should be taken as 
regards the equality of the spring pressure? 

A. To see, by tapping them with a hammer, that each is 
just snug and that no one bears harder than another. 

0. After the packing is set out, what should be done with 
the follower? 
A. It should be cleaned before putting on. 

Q. Before putting back the cylinder-heads, what should be 
done thereto? 

A. Their joints should be cleaned. 

Q. What is the danger in screwing up cylinder-heaa nuts? 
A. That they will be screwed too hard and the studs 
broken. 

Q. In z^hat order should cylinder-head nuts be put on? 

A. The top one first, then the bottom one, then those at the 
quarters, and so on ; dividing the space equally, and being 
sure that no one is run up hard before all are run up slightly. 

Q. Suppose that after taking off the follower the packing 
will be found not to be tight, altlwugh it seemed so before the 
folloiuer zvas taken off; what does this show? 

A. That it was too long and was held clamped by the 
follower. 

Q. How can a follower-bound packing be remedied? 
A. By putting a piece of stout paper between the follower 
and the spider. 

Q. What may be done in case the piston-packing is too 
short? 

A. A piece of wrapping-paper may be put between the 
packing-rings. 

Q. Hon' often should a piston-packing be examined? 



636 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. About every eight to ten weeks, according to the service 
in which the engine is engaged. 

Q. What would you do in case a piston rod broke and 
went clear out of the cylinder, taking the front head with it? 

A. Disconnect the valve rod, cover the ports and go along, 
using one side. 

Q. If the piston head broke off the rod, but did not knock out 
all of the front head? 

A. If I could get it out of the cylinder, and the rod was 
not bent, I would not take down the main rod; otherwise I 
would. 

Q. What is liable to spring and break piston-rods? 
A. (i) Loose guides; (2) badly-lined pistons; (3) loose 
piston-key. 

Q. Suppose a piston-rod breaks without smashing anything 
else, what should be done? 

A. The cylinder-head should be taken off and the piston 
taken out; the ports covered, and if the crosshead is injured 
the main rod should be taken down. 

Q. What is liable to result from a loose piston-rod key? 
A. Knocking out a cylinder-head, or cracking a piston-rod. 

Q. What, is a frequent cause of the key way in the piston- 
rod cracking? ' 

A. The guides being worked up and down by reason of 
insufficient stiffness in the frames to which they are keyed. 

ACCIDENTS TO VALVE, YOKE, AND STEM. 

Q. In what way is a slide-valve apt to wear? 
A. With convex face. 

Q. In what way is the valve-seat apt to wear? 

A. Concave. 

Q. What causes a cut valve? 



ACCIDENTS TO VALVE, YOKE, AND STEM. 637 

A. Tight fitting of a yoke, or its lack of alignment with 
the valve-stem. 

Q. What causes valve-cocking? 

A. Valve-yokes tight fitting or out of line with the stem. 

Q. When does the cocking usually occur? 

A. On slowing down and stopping. 

Q. What will usually bring a cocked valve in place again? 

A. (i) Giving the reverse-lever quick jerks to shake the 
valve; or (2) taking out the steam-chest tallow-cup and with 
a metal rod driving the valve down out of the yoke. 

Q. In case this fails, what should be done? 
A. The valve-stem should be disconnected and the valve 
shaken that way. 

Q. Suppose that fails? 

A. The chest-cover should be taken up. 

Q. What is the sign of a cocked valve? 
A. A roar through the stack, caused by the steam rushing 
through. 

Q. In case of a cocked valve, should the chest-cover be 
removed before exhausting other means? 

A. No. 

Q. How can the tightness of the valve be tested? 

A. By getting the rocker-arm vertical, blocking the engine, 
opening the smoke-box door, giving steam, and watching the 
nozzles. A leaky valve will show by the steam coming from 
the nozzle on its side. 

Q. Having ascertained on which side the valve is broken, 
what is the next course? 

A. It should be removed, and if unbalanced, a flat piece of 
inch board laid on the seat to cover the ports ; on this the valve 
should be laid, at mid-travel ; both the board and the valve 
blocked, the chest-lid put on, the stuffing-box plugged with 



638 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



waste or packing (held in by the gland), the main rod taken 
down and the crosshead blocked; then the engine may go on 
with as much train as possible. In the case of a balanced valve 
the board on the seat is omitted. (Fig. 396.) 

Q. How may the valve be blocked without taking off the 
chest-cover? 

A. Where there is a relief-valve in the front side of the 
chest, by removing this, and pushing the valve against the 
stem or the yoke, clamping this latter, and putting in a wooden 



^ 




Fig- 39 6 - Balanced Valve Blocked in Steam Chest. 

plug long enough to reach from the D-valve to the relief valve 
when the latter is screwed in place. 

Q. After disconnecting, is there any way to clamp a valve 
stem having United States packing, or zvould you have to re- 
move the steam-chest cover and block valve? 

A. All up-to-date engineers carry a cramp for holding 
a valve stem that has metallic packing, for keeping it in posi- 
tion. 

0. What is the best method of blocking a piston valve, 
broken within the chamber, or with valve-stem broken zvithin 
this latter? 



ACCIDENTS TO VALVE, YOKE, AND STEM. 639 

A. To take off both valve chamber covers, center the valve, 
put a block of wood of proper size in each end to hold it 
central, and put on the covers. If in a desperate hurry and 
you know positively whether the valve is an outside or inside 
admission, direct or indirect connected valve, to push it to the 
front end and secure the stem. This fills the cylinder with 
steam. Move the engine so that this will hold the piston 
against the cylinder cover at one end; disconnect and block. 
If not absolutely sure of what you are doing, adopt the first 
mentioned plan. 

Q. What should one avoid, in locating a broken valve yoke 
or other such cause of a heavy blow? 

A. Placing the engine on the good side on the dead center 
and thus being unable to move either way. 

0. Which side should one look at first? 

A. That side which is on the quarter. 

Q. Why? 

A. Because if this side were not disabled it would move the 
engine off the center on the other side. 

0. When is it not necessary to take off the chest cover? 

A. When there is a relief valve; as in this case the valve- 
stem may be disconnected and the relief valve taken out, 
which will permit shifting the valve to cover the ports and 
help the good side off the dead center. 

0. What is a cause of balaiiced slide-valves running hard? 

A. The valve and lower seat having been re- faced, the 
balance-strips come out too high and cant, letting steam in on 
back of valve, hence increasing pressure and friction. 

Q. What is a frequent cause of broken balance-strips? 

A. Re-facing valve and seat, which brings the strips out 
too far and is apt to cause cocking and breakage. 

Q. What is the remedy or prevention? 

A. Lowering the upper valve-seat. 



uo 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



0. What is a common cause of breakage of balanced 
valves? 

A. Broken springs getting out from under the valve- 
strips. 

0. Hozv may this evil be lessened? 

A. (i) By dowels; (2) by small lugs under the strips, 
(3) and much better, by sheet iron cases such as are shown 
in Fig. 397. 




R. 



Fig. 397- Casing for Balanced Valve. 

The case which is fitted at each end of the valve is made of 
I- 16 inch sheet iron, the corners welded. B lies flat in a groove 
at the end of the valve, with spring resting on it, and the strip 
moves vertically on top of the spring, inclosed at the corners 
by walls D and C. A protrudes into the long groove extend- 
ing from one end of valve to the other. The end A is bent 
down and filed to a razor edge, so that the edge always bears 
tight on the bottom of the groove. B is bent slightly, so 
that the ends are always down solid. 

Q. Should yon suspect a broken pressure-strip or spring on 
a balanced valve, how would you detect it? 

A. Say for instance that the right side is suspected. Put 
the right crank-pin on the forward center and the reverse- 
lever in the center notch, and open the cylinder-cocks. The 



ACCIDENTS TO VALVE, YOKE, AND STEM. 



641 



valve position will be central as shown in Fig. 398. Put the 
reverse-lever over until the valve-stem has moved about }i 
inch ; this will bring it into the position of Fig. 399, and any 
leak such as is shown by the arrows, past the strip and into 
the exhaust-arch, will pass to the rear end of the cylinder 
and show at the cock as well as the exhaust-nozzle. Put the 




Figs. 398, 399 and 400. Balanced Valve Positions. 



valve in the position shown in Fig. 400, then a leaking strip 
will cause a blow at the front cock and at the exhaust nozzle. 

Q. Why try both valve positions? 

A. To be sure that the blow is not caused by a leak under 
the valve. 



G42 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. How would you disconnect the valve-stem from the 
valve-rod socket? 

A. Remove the rocker-arm pin, wind a piece of waste 
around the small end of the pinch-bar, stick it in the eye in 
the back end of the valve-rod, and then by pushing down on 
the pinch-bar free the stem (having blocked up the back end 
of the rod to prevent springing it by prying down). 

Q. Should a valve-stem break, need the corresponding 
eccentric-strap or link be "doctored"? 
A. No. 

Q. What should be done for a valve-stem broken off outside 
the chest? 

A. Its rod should be removed, the valve set on the exhaust 
center and fastened; the main-rod taken down, the piston 
blocked or otherwise secured. 

Q. Hozv may the valve-stem be fastened? 

A. By removing the oil-cup and putting in a set-screw pro- 
vided for that purpose in the emergency kit, or by cocking the 
gland so as to pinch the stem hard; or by the use of a bracket 
(from the kit) fitting the gland-studs and the key-hole. 

Q. What should be done in case of a valve-stem breaking 
off close up to the yoke? 

A. I should first find out which side was disabled, by 
examining that side of the engine which was nearest the half 
stroke; then all cylinder-cocks being opened, a little steam 
being let in and the reverse-lever moved from forward to 
back gear to see which side the steam showed at the cylinder- 
cocks, the side which showed steam at only the back cock 
would be the disabled one. 

Q. Why is this? 

A. Because if the stem was broken off inside the chest it 
could only push the valve ahead and not draw it back, and 



ACCIDENTS TO VALVE, YOKE, AND STEM. 643 

steam would show on only the back cock on that side the 
stem of which was broken inside the chest. 

Q. Why would you choose the side that stood nearest half 
stroke? 

A. Because that being the side which would have fullest 
port-opening, the test would be plainer.. 

Q. Can a valve-stem be mended on the road? 

A. Yes, if you have with you a clamp with good sharp set- 
screws ; the ring being small enough to clear the packing gland 
studs. (See Fig. 394 A). 

Q. Hozc z^'ould you fasten a valve-stem, where U. S. pack- 
ing is used, in case there are no clamps for such purpose? 

A. Place the valve over the ports, and tie the stem, one 
rope or wire running back to the yoke, the other around the 
steam chest or relief valve. 

0. What zi'ould you do in case of a broken valve-stem gland? 

A. With one lug broken off or one stud gone, do the 
same as for a broken piston-gland (take out all the rod-packing 
except one turn, push in the broken gland as far as it will go, 
and screw up the gland-stud nuts), or, the gland can be held in 
stuffing-box with wire or bell-cord around steam-chest. 

Q. If you broke a valve-yoke how would you determine on 
which side it was? 

A. Place the engine on the quarter, put the lever "in ahead," 
and give a little steam, then put her "in back" and do the 
same. If the steam would not come out of both cylinder cocks 
alternately I would know 7 that was the broken side. 

Q. When a valve-yoke is broken, what disconnections should 
be made? 

A. The chest-cover should be removed, and the valve placed 
centrally over the ports, and blocked in position; then the 
chest-lid replaced. After that the valve-rod and main rod 
should be disconnected, and the crosshead blocked, on that 



644 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

side. Instructions should be asked for as to whether the train 
should be brought in as a whole, or only part brought in and 
the rest left. 

Q. How would you disconnect in such a case? 

A. Take up the steam chest cover, block the valve over the 
ports, take down the main rod and go along. 

Q. How can a broken valve-yoke be discovered without 
removing the chest-cover? 

A. By putting the crank on the quarter, opening the cocks 
full and the throttle slightly, and working the reverse-lever 
both ways. In case of a broken yoke, steam will show at the 
rear cock. 

Q. Why put the crank on the quarter? 

A. To give the valve full travel. 

Q. How can a broken valve-yoke be held in place? 

A. By a plug or stick placed in the relief-valve opening, and 
long enough to jam the loose front part against the back part 
(which remains on the stem) when the valve is on the center. 

Q. What is the object of taking down the main rod in case 
of a broken valve-rod? 

A. To prevent the piston from cutting the cylinder by run- 
ning dry. 

Q. Should this accident occur near a siding, in what case 
should the main rod not be taken down? 

A. In case the line is pretty well traveled; then the main 
line should be cleared as soon as possible and the rod taken 
down later on the siding. 

ACCIDENTS TO THE VALVE CHEST. 

Q. What should be done in case of a burst or broken steam- 
chest? 

A. If it interfered with the running of the engine, the 
steam-pipe joint on the disabled side should be broken by 



ACCIDENTS TO VALVE CHEST. 645 

taking out the bolts, the flanges pried apart, and a "blind 
gasket" or thin disk of sheet metal inserted between the 
flanges, after which the latter should be bolted together again, 
the valve-rod and main rod disconnected on the disabled side, 
and the crosshead blocked. 

0. Suppose that in case of a broken steam-chest or chest- 
cover it is found that the steam-pipe cannot be slacked up to 
put on a blind gasket, what should be done? 

A. Wood should be fitted into the steam passages and 
braced in place by the steam-chest bolts ; or, a piece of strong 
plank faced with rubber gasket should be bolted to the T-head 
(sometimes called "nigger-head") after the branch-pipe was 
removed : and the main rod and valve-stem rod on the dis- 
abled side should be disconnected. 

0. If the steam-chest was broken all to pieces how would 
you get in with one side? 

A. If the steam connection was outside, I would plug up, 
or bolt a piece of plank lined with sheet iron over the end of 
steam way in saddle. If I used a plug I would fasten it so it 
could not be blown out. If the steam-passage joint was in 
the smoke-box, I would cool off the engine and insert a blind 
joint of wood and sheet iron in place of the joint ring. 

0. Suppose the steam-chest is broken and gone entirely, and 
also the studs, and the front end netting and crowded nuts 
and bolts at steam-pipe joints prevent using a board or a piece 
of sheet iron, how can the steam be cut out? 

A. By filling the end ports with waste or old overclothes, 
covering the seat with two-inch planks and putting another 
plank across the first layer ; putting a chain around planks and 
cylinder and wedging or jacking the chain tight. 

0. How may the cylinder be oiled in case of a broken steam- 
chest? 

A. By slackening the front cylinder-head nuts and squirting 



646 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

in oil with an oiling syringe if there should be one at hand, 
otherwise by removing the front head and slushing in well 
with oil, and preferably with flake graphite. 

Q. In case of damage to steam-chest or valve calling for 
blocking of the steam-pipe or of all the steam-ports, what 
disconnections should be made? 

A. The main rod and the valve-stem rod. 

Q. How do you keep steam from coming out of the dry- 
pipe into a broken steam-chest ? 

A. Remove the chest-cover, block the steam-inlet by wood- 
filling ; put a board on that ; set the valve on the board ; plug 
the inlet with wood; disconnect that side. 

Q. Can valve and valve-seat be smooth and yet out of true? 
A. Yes; both can be worn rounding so that there is an 
appreciable leak. 

Q. How is this revealed? 

A. By the straight-edge. 

Q. What part of a valve-seat ordinarily breaks? 

A. A bridge between an end port and the exhaust port. 

Q. What is to be done to test for a broken bridge? 

A. Put the engine on the quarter, and the lever in the front 
notch, and give steam. If there is no blow, try the lever in 
the back notch. 

Q. For a broken bridge, what is to be done? 

A. Block both ports, disconnect the valve-stem ; if there is 
time take down the main rod. 

Q. What is the remedy for a broken valve-seat bridge? 

A. The damaged ports covered, that side stripped as for a 
broken valve-yoke, the engine run with the other side. 

Q. What is the sign of a considerable break in a bridge? 

A. A strong blow through the exhaust. 

Q. Of zvhat else is this the sign? 



ACCIDENTS TO VALVE CHEST. 647 

A. Of a cocked valve. 

Q. What would be the effect of a crack in the valve-seat 
bridge? 

A. To make the engine blow when taking steam at that 
end; leaking through to the exhaust passage. 

Q. When a valve-seat breaks, does it ever do any damage 
to other parts of the engine? 

A. It may break the valve, or bend either the valve-rod or 
the rocker-arm, or may cause breakage of the piston or the 
cylinder-head in case a broken piece falls into the cylinder. 

Q. What is the apparent sign of a broken outside port wall? 
A. When steam cannot be kept out of some particular one 
of the ports. 

Q. What is then to be done? 

A. Push the valve to that end which will leave that port 
half open and the other end port and the exhaust port covered ; 
take down the main rod, if there is time ; push the piston to 
the opposite end from the broken port wall ; block the cross- 
head and let the cylinder fill with steam ; remove the cylinder- 
cock nearest the piston, secure the valve-stem and go ahead. 

Q. How should one put on a new false valve-seat, where it 
has wings inside the chest? 

A. Clamp the seat square and central with the cylinder 
ports ; put up the chest with a stud at each of two diagonally 
opposite corners ; scribe the wing outlines inside ; then chip 
and file to lines. 

Q. Where there are no seat-wings? 

A. Drill and countersink holes for flush-screw T s ; clamp the 
seat square and central with the cylinder-ports; drill and tap 
through the seat-holes ; run the screws in below the counter- 
sinks, after graphiting them well to enable subsequent removal. 

Q. What is the procedure where the false valve-seat is 

broken? 



648 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. To remove the chest cover and the valve, make a tight 
joint over the ports by means of a board held down by 
blocking, and disconnect that side. 

ACCIDENTS TO CROSSHEADS AND GUIDES. 

Q. What is a common cause of broken crossheads? 
A. Pounding main-rod connections ; pump-plungers work- 
ing out of line, or badly fastened in the lug. 

Q. What should be done in case of a broken crossheadf 
A. The piston should be taken out, the valve blocked at 
mid-travel, and the main rod taken down. 

Q. Why should crossheads usually be blocked at the back 
end of the guides? 

A. Because if there should be a smash by reason of the cross- 
head getting away it is better that it be the front head, by 
reason of its greater cheapness ; besides which, if the back 
head were smashed there would be likelihood of the piston, 
guides and guide-yoke being broken also. 

Q. In case it is absolutely necessary to block the crosshead 
at the front end, what extra precaution should be taken? 

A. To clamp the valve-stem so as to lessen the probability 
of the valve moving back. 

Q. What should be done in case the crosshead is broken so 
that it cannot be blocked? 

A. The piston should be taken out, if possible. 

Q. In case the piston cannot be taken out in this instance? 

A. It should be pushed against the front cylinder-head, the 
valve pushed to the front end of its stroke, and the valve- 
stem clamped. 

Q. Can the crosshead be blocked at the back end of the 
guides in all engines? 

A. No, there are some engines, with four pairs of wheels 



ACCIDENTS TO CROSSHEAD AND GUIDES. 649 

connected, in which the front crank-pin will not clear the 
crosshead. 

Q. What should be done in case the crosshead cannot be 
fastened at the back end of the guides ? 

A. The piston should be blocked at the front end of the 
cylinder with the valve at mid-travel ; or, in case there is no 
damage to the front end of the valve or to the front steam- 
port, the valve may be put at the front end of the cylinder so 
as to let steam at the back end of the cylinder. The valve- 
stem should be well clamped. 

Q. Under what circumstance need not the crosshead be 
blocked? 

A. If there is no pressure in the boiler. 

Q. How may the crosshead best be held in place? 

A. By a special hook of i^ round iron having threaded 
shank, to fit the wrist-pin, with a straight piece about 15 
inches x 4 inches x 1^4 inches, having a hole for the hook- 
shank to pass through. This is hooked on the wrist-pin when 
the piston is at back stroke end, the straight piece passed 
across the back guide-yoke and the nut run up on the shank 
until all is tight. 

Q. When the piston is secured, what else should be done? 
A. The cylinder-cocks removed or at least tied open, as se- 
curity against the accidental influx of at least a little steam. 

Q. Will a broken crosshead shoe always disable the engine 
on that side? 

A. Not if it is the under one; and not always if it is the 
upper one and more than half remain. 

Q. Why this distinction? 

A. Because in running forwards the upper guide gets most 
of the wear. 

Q. In case the upper one was entirely gone? 



650 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. The engine could be run forwards with the other side, 
or backwards with both. 

Q. What should be done in the case of a broken crosshead 
shoe? 

A. If it is the lower one, a smooth slip of hard wood may 
be placed on the guide-bar to hold the crosshead up to the 
upper one. If it is the upper one it would not be safe to run 
in the forward motion if more than half the shoe was gone. 

Q. When the piston is secured by being run to stroke end, 
and the valve run to the same end, what holds the piston? 

A. Only steam-pressure. 




Fig. 401. Blocked Laird Crosshead. 

Q. Is this way advisable? 

A. No, it is too risky; the valve might move and cause 
smashing of the cylinder-head. 

Q. What may be said of the method of putting the valve on 
the center and leaving the piston unfastened? 

A. It is risky and not to be recommended. 

Q. Why does the middle of Laird crosshead guides wear 
faster than the ends? 

A. Because the main rod transmits the greatest pressure 
upon the guides when the crosshead is at mid stroke. 



ACCIDENTS TO MAIN AND SIDE RODS. 651 

Q. Would you disconnect an engine for a broken guide? 
A. Yes. 

0. In what shape does the crosshead-pin wear? 

A. Oblong in section ; getting much wear on front and back 
and but little on top and bottom. 

Q. Which of the brasses sometimes has only one key? 

A. That at the back end of the main rod. 

0. In what position can a forked or spade-handle rod be 
taken down? 

A. With the pin on the forward center. 

Q. With a new engine, and crosshead and guides running 
hot and cutting, what would you do? 

A. Slack up the bolts at the end of the guides and open 
them up by putting in a very thin tin or paper liner. 

0. Why not cool them with water? 

A. That would warp and, perhaps, ruin the guides and 
necessitate disconnecting. 

0. How can an emergency crosshead gib for a four-bar 
guide be made? 

A. Out of oak, soaked in oil. 

0. How can the crosshead wear best be determined? 

A. By having two circles of the same size made from prick 
punch marks which correspond in hight to the cylinder axis, 
and measuring from their circumference to the top and bottom 
crosshead faces. 

ACCIDENTS TO MAIN AND SIDE RODS. 

Q. What should be done in case a main rod broke without 
smashing the cylinder-head? 

A. It, as well as the valve-rod, should be taken down, the 
valve blocked at mid-travel, and the crosshead and piston 
blocked at the back end of the stroke. 

Q. How far back should the piston be secured? 



652 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. Not back of its usual stroke, else the rings might drop 
into the counterbore. 

0. How may this be guarded against? 

A. By watching the travel-marks on the guides and putting 
a block on the latter to keep the crosshead going beyond those 
marks. 

Q. What should be done in every case, when a main rod is 
disconnected? 

A. The piston should be blocked and the valve-stem discon- 
nected. 

Q. What should be done when a set-screw in the back end 
of the main rod is broken and cannot be backed with the 
chisel? 

A. The strap-bolts should be taken out at that end and the 
crosshead blocked; then the engine should be pinched along 
until the key was loose. 

Q. What may be said about taking down main rods? 

A. This should be done as seldom as possible. 

Q. What is the advantage of leaving the main rod up? 

A. It will often do away with the necessity of using a 
pinch bar. 

Q. Why should a valve-rod be disconnected when its con- 
necting-rod is down? 

A. To prevent the valves being worked on their seat when 
there was no steam, which would cause cutting. 

Q. Why should liners be put back of the brasses where they 
belong, when rods are taken down? • 

A. That they may be found at once when the engine is 
made ready for service, and that each one may be just where 
it belongs. 

Q. In case of breakage of a side-rod or of its pin, what 
should be done? 

A. Both side-rods should be taken down. 



ACCIDENTS TO MAIN AND SIDE RODS. 653 

0. Why both rods? 

A. Because if the main wheel should slip and the back 
wheel be caught on either center, the back axle could not be 
turned, or would turn the wrong way, and there would be 
liability of either a broken pin or a bent side-rod. 

0. What should be done in cas^e of a broken side-rod on a 
four-wheel engine having the main rods connected to the back 
■wheels and the eccentrics on the front axle? 

A. All rods should be taken down, the ports closed, the 
crossheads blocked, and help asked to tow the engine to a 
siding or to the shops. 

Q. What should be done in case of breakage of the middle 
section of a si x-zch eel- connected engine? 

A. All side-rods should be taken down and the engine run 
without train to the shops, siding or destination. 

Q. What should be done in case of breakage of a pin or 
rod on the back section of a six-wheel-connected engine? 

A. The back section should be disconnected on both sides, 
and as much of the train as possible run with the forward 
four wheels. 

0. What should be done in case of breakage of either the 
front or the back section of a side-rod on a consolidation 
engine? 

A. If it was a back section broken I should take off both 
back sections; if a front section, both front sections, and 
should come in with about two-thirds of the train, unless I 
could haul more. 

0. What would you do in case of breakage of the middle 
section of a consolidation engine side-rod? 

A. Take down all side-rods and run in without any train. 

0. Under what circumstances would an engine not get 
along very well with the side-rods down? 
A. With wet rails. 



654 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What should be done in case of breakage of the set-screw 
in a side-rod? 

A. The bolts should be taken out of the straps by it, the 
other drivers blocked, and the wheels pinched over until the 
screw is loosened. 

Q. On a "tandem connected" piston valve engine, should the 
side-rod break between the intermediate and main driving 
wheels, could you bring in the engine if the eccentrics were on 
the intermediate wheels? 

A. When one side-rod breaks it is safe to take down its 
mate on the other side. There being nothing to make the 
axle carrying the eccentrics revolve in unison with the main 
driving axle, the engine should be towed in. Engines thus 
disabled have been run by leaving the side-rod up on the good 
side, but it is not safe, because there is no guarantee that one 
side-rod will always turn the wheel in the same direction as 
the main driver. If the main drivers slipped at or very near 
the forward or back quarter, the one side-rod might turn the 
intermediate wheel backwards, with disastrous results. 

Q. Can an engine be run with only one side-rod on a pair 
of drivers? 

A. Not well, as when on either center there is just as much 
tendency for the rear wheels to turn in the opposite direction 
to the forward ones, as to turn with them. This would prob- 
ably break a rod or pin. 

Q This being the case, suppose a forward section or coup- 
ling-rod breaks where there are three or more pairs of drivers 
coupled? 

A. Then all the coupling-rods must be taken down or dis- 
pensed with. 

Q. What is the effect of taking down coupling-rods? 
A. To lessen the tractive force,' as there is less weight on 
the drivers that are left in service. 



ACCIDENTS TO SIDE RODS. 655 

Q. In running with coupling-rods disconnected, what would 
be the effect of opening the throttle full wide? 

A. It would be apt to cause slipping, by reason of the 
cylinder-power then being too much for the tractive power — a 
condition of affairs that sometimes exists even before an 
accident. 

Q. What might be the result of running with one side-rod 
of an eight-wheel engine down and its mate on the other side 
in place? 

A. The main pin might run one way and the back one the 
other. 

Q. How is it on consolidation engines? 

A. If a back or a front section is down, only its mate on 
the opposite side must come down too. If, however, the 
middle section on one side breaks, all parallel rods must come 
down. 

Q. How is it on six-wheel-connected engines? 

A. Here the back end of the forward side-rod has the 
knuckle ; in case the back section breaks only its opposite mate 
must come down. If, however, the front section goes, all 
parallel rods must come down. 

Q. If you broke a side-rod or a back pin on an eight-zcheeler, 
or mogul, where the knuckle joint is located back of the main 
pin, what would you take down? 

A. All side-rods. 

Q. In disconnecting an engine that has a broken side-rod, 
why would you take off the other side-rod? 

A. If one rod were off, the other might not pass the center ; 
at least, it w r ould be as liable to go under as over, and thus 
make trouble. 

0. If on a ten-wheel engine the eccentrics arc on the front 
driving axle and the intermediate drivers are the main ones, 
the front and main drivers connected with a solid rod, and the 



656 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

knuckle joint behind the main pin, and the front rod sections 
should get broken, can the engine be made to bring herself 
in? If so, how? 

A. Unless the back sections of the rods were of the same 
length and other dimensions as the front ones and could be 
changed from back to front, one would have to be towed in. 

Q. If you broke a side-rod or a back pin on an eight-wheeler 
what would you take off? 

A. Both side-rods. 

Q. Why? 

A. If one side-rod were taken off, there would be nothing 
to carry the pins on the opposite side past the centers. 

Q. In disconnecting by reason of a broken main rod, where 
the crosshead is blocked and it is desired to disconnect the 
valve-stem, how may the latter be held in one position? 

A. It may be tied to the hand-rail if it has a joint. 

Q. Can all four-wheel switch engines be run with the side- 
rods down? 

A. Not those which have the eccentrics on the front axle 
and the main pin on the back wheel. 

Q. Why do you take down rods on the opposite side to that 
broken? 

A. To prevent straining. 

Q. If you broke a strap on the back end of the main rod 
and knocked out the front head, what would you do? 

A. Take off the broken strap parts, cover the ports, discon- 
nect the valve rod, and, if there was a yoke for the main rod 
to lie in, block the crosshead and leave it there. 

Q. What can be used in an emergency to fix a rod brass, 
zvhen no babbitt is at hand? 

A. Wood or sole leather, a trifle below the brass level, so 
that when it swells with oil it will not bind the pin. 

Q. How can a sheared rod-bolt be removed, if it sticks? 



ACCIDENTS TO CRANK PINS. 657 

A. (i) By putting a jack under it, tightening up the jack, 
putting a nut over the bolt head and striking hard; (2) if 
still stubborn, expanding the rod about the bolt by means of 
live coals. 

ACCIDENTS TO CRANK-PINS. 

Q. What should be done in case of breakage of a main 
crank-pin close up to the wheel? 

A. The main rod and valve-rod should be taken down, the 
valve blocked at mid-travel, the crosshead and piston blocked 
or fastened at the back end of the stroke, and both side-rods 
taken down; and as a usual thing, the engine run in without 
any train. 

Q. What should be done in case of breakage of the back 
crank-pin on a four-wheel-connected engine having the front 
wheel the main one? 

A. Both side-rods should be disconnected and the engine 
run with the main rods only. 

Q. Why is it that the breakage of one back crank-pin on a 
four-wheel engine is liable to be followed at once by the 
breakage of the opposite one to it? 

A. Because the breakage of the first pin throws extra 
pressure upon the main wheels and causes them to slip, and 
the unbroken side is apt to be caught on one of the centers 
and broken, unless the rod bends. 

Q. What are the principal causes of broken crank-pins? 

A. (1) Improper lining of the engine, throwing too much 
strain on the pin on passing a dead center; (2) thumping by 
reason of loose rods, causing crystallizing of the pin; or (3) 
running on sharp curves with heavy solid rods having non- 
adjustable bushings for bearings. 

Q. Which style of rods breaks the most pins: those with 
solid brasses or bush'uigs, or those with adjustable brasses," 

A, The solid rods, by reason of their having no give. 



658 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What is the reason that in case one crank-pin breaks, 
both side-rods must be taken down? 

A. If the engine slipped when going over the center the 
side-rod on the good side could not slip its wheel, and either 
the rod or the crank-pin would be likely to suffer. 

Q. If a crank-pin brass got hot so the babbitt melted, would 
you cool it off with water before all the babbitt came out? 

A. No. 

Q. What fault is sometimes mistaken for a bent crank-pin? 

A. A distorted crank-pin hub. 

Q. What is the cause of such distortion ? 

A. Shrinking on very heavy tires. 

Q. Can a crank-pin be circular in cross-section and yet 
wrong? 

A. Yes, it may be eccentric with the original center of the 
pin. 

Q. What is often a result of this? 

A. Shearing rod bolts, and losing keys. 

Q. // the main pin has been in service any length of time, 
what is the best position in which to key up? 

A. On the forward upper eighth or the back lower eighth ; 
else the brasses would be liable to be keyed on a pin diameter 
which is not the greatest one, and in other positions the braces 
would pinch the pin. 

ACCIDENTS TO THE ECCENTRICS. 

Q. If the eccentrics are badly cut on one side, will there be 
any more strain on the eccentric and rocker arms on the lame 
side than on the other? 

A. Yes. 

Q. If you broke a forward motion eccentric, how would you 
disconnect? 

A. Cover ports on that side, take off the good eccentric, 



ACCIDENTS TO ECCENTRICS. 659 

together with the remnant of the broken one, and take down 
the main rod. 

Q. What should be done in case of breakage of a backing 
eccentric? 

A. If not near destination, both eccentric-rods should be 
taken down on that side, the main rod and valve-stem discon- 
nected on that side, and the link disconnected from the 
tumbling-shaft by taking down the hanger. (The engine could 
be run in full gear on that side, if there was no danger of the 
link swinging against anything.) If near destination, take off 
the remnant of the broken eccentric and run in at full stroke. 

Q. You say, "if near destination/' Why not run in any 
distance? 

A. Because it is not advisable to do so, on account of the 
slow speed necessary. 

0. Why not run towards mid-gear in the first case; or in 
other words, hook up? 

A. Because that w T ould swing the link. 

Q. Suppose the back-up eccentric broken, should the for- 
ward eccentric be disconnected? 

A. Not if there was nothing .to do but go ahead. The 
bottom link end can be fastened down and the engine worked 
with the lever well forward to prevent the fastenings at the 
lower link end being pulled loose. 

Q. If you broke both back motion and one forward motion 
eccentrics, how zvould you manage? 

A. Take off the remnants of all broken eccentrics and run 
in at full stroke, using one side. 

Q. If an engine on the road, fifty miles from terminal, 
should break both back-motion eccentrics, and one of the for- 
ward ones, how would you get her "'home'? 

A. Disconnect the side of the engine upon which both 
eccentrics were broken, take off all the damaged parts, and run 



660 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

in at full stroke, using one side. If the back-motion eccentric 
rod on that side was good, leave it attached to the link and 
clamp its back end to the forward motion rod to hold the link 
in position, and "hook up." 

Q. If you were on a busy piece of road and fifty miles from 
destination when your eccentric broke, would you stop on 
main line to disconnect? 

A. If it were a forward motion that broke I would have to ; 
but if a back motion I would pull on to first side-track, and 
disconnect there. 

Q. What would probably take place if, having one link 
blocked up, the lever were dropped when the engine was shut 
off or in starting the train? 

A. An eccentric strap would go. 

Q, What sort of damage may a broken eccentric-strap 
cause? 

A. The rod may strike the ground, double up, tear away 
the whole of the motion on that side and punch a hole in the 
fire-box. 

Q. What should be done in case of a broken forward eccen- 
tric-strap? 

A. Both eccentric-rods ancl straps should be taken down on 
that side, the main rod and valve-stem disconnected, the ports 
covered with the valve, and the link disconnected from the 
tumbling-shaft by taking down the hanger. 

Q. What is the objection to leaving the back-up eccentric- 
strap and rod on in case the forward strap or rod has broken? 

A. It might prove dangerous. 
% Q. Supposing the backing eccentric strap is broken and the 
rod remains good, can the back end of the rod be bolted to the 
go-ahead strap and the engine run ahead at short cut-off? 

A. No ; if the link is fastened in a vertical position, the 
valves will have full travel. 



ACCIDENTS TO ECCENTRICS. 661 

Q. Is it always necessary to take down both eccentrics when 
one is broken? 

A. Xo ; if the eccentric rods are very long and the forward 
one is broken, the weight of the long eccentric rod will hold 
the link even when the engine backs up. 

Q. Why will the same rule not always apply, in ease of a 
broken back-motion eccentric strap? 

A. In most ten-wheelers the link would strike the truck 
frame. 

Q. In case an eccentric gets hot on the road, how should it 
be treated so as not to break the straps? 

A. The strap bolts should be loosened up and a piece of 
tin put in the joint between the halves of the strap. 

Q. Would this be necessary in case the strap was worn, say 
an eighth inch? 

A. No. All I would do then would be to loosen the pack- 
ing in the oil pocket and use a little valve oil. 

0. Why use valve oil? 

A. It will stand a higher temperature before igniting, and 
hang on better to a hot surface. 

Q. What do you think of bolting the back end of the back- 
motion eccentric rod to the forward-motion strap when a back- 
motion strap is broken? 

A. Unless I had suitable bolts and clamps I would not 
attempt it. 

Q. What should be done in case of breakage of a go-ahead 
eccentric rod? 

A. The broken rod and its straps should be taken down, 
as also the. main rod and the valve-stem on that side, the main 
rod and valve-stem disconnected, and the link disconnected 
from the tumbling-shaft by taking down the hanger. 

0. How should eccentric (and other) set screzvs be made? 

A. With cupped, not pointed, ends. 



662 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. How could you run in a big engine without taking down 
tlic main rod in case the eccentrics or the valve motion were 
disabled on one side? 

A. Block the valve so as to leave the back port open for 
lubrication ; leave both cylinder cocks open on the disabled 
side. 

Q. Should she stick on the center, what then? 
A. Close the back cylinder cock. 

Q. Suppose that with the engine moving slowly ahead, and 
the cylinder cocks open, there is too early admission on both 
strokes, or too late admission on both strokes, of what is that 
the sign? 

A. Of a slipped eccentric. 

Q. Suppose that in this case the admission is too soon on 
both strokes, which eccentric will that show to have slipped? 
A. The forward one; and vice versa. 

Q. What is the most common cause of slipping eccentrics? 
A. Dry slide valves, especially on new engines. 

Q. Why "especially on new engines"? 

A. Because the engine runner has no lost motion to look 
after, hence does not catch the evil in time. 

Q. What is the test for a dry valve? 

A. To lift the dog out of the quadrant ; if one valve is dry 
there will be two jerks per wheel turn; if both are dry, four. 

Q. What is another of the causes of slipping eccentrics? 
A. Clogging up of the oil passages in the eccentric straps 
putting extra twisting strain on the sheaves. 

Q. What is the best way to insure that slipping, eccentrics 
can be put right in place zvithout much or any "cutting and 
trying"? 

A. Their proper places should be marked, so that if they 
slip they can be put right back where they belong. 



ACCIDENTS TO ECCENTRICS. 663 

Q. Suppose a go-ahead eccentric slips and its place is not 
marked, what should be done? 

A. The engine on the disabled side should be put on either 
center, the reverse lever put in the back notch of the sector 
(quadrant), and a fine line scratched on the valve stem right 
at the gland ; then the lever being put in the forward notch, if 
the slipped eccentric is moved until the line comes to the gland 
again, and the set screws on the toothed keys are then fas- 
tened, the engine will be adjusted well enough until more cor- 
rect setting can be done (of course, care being taken that the 
two eccentric bellies are not on the same side of the shaft). 

Q. How do you test for a slipped eccentric when the exhaust 
is so uneven as to shozv something very wrong? 

A. Shut off steam and drift. Put the reverse lever full 
forward. If no usual jerk is manifest, there is probably only 
a slipped eccentric sheave or rod or a bent rocker. If it jerks 
and slams into the forward corner there is probably a broken 
eccentric sheave or strap, link block, or valve seat. 

If the indications are for a slipped eccentric, watch the 
crosshead and opened cylinder cocks when drifting under part 
steam, with lever in the center. See on which side the cocks 
show steam exactly at stroke end. If all seems square in 
forward motion the trouble is probably with a back-up eccentric. 
Put the lever in the usual notch, and watch again ; if you can 
now place the faulty side, it will be a back-up eccentric. 

Q. If you have reason to believe that one of your eccentrics 
has slipped a little, how can you, prove this, and locate the right 
one? 

A. Place my engine on the center, on one side, as near as 
possible, have the fireman put the lever "in ahead." Make 
a knife mark on the stem, after which have the lever put 
"in back." 

Q. What accidents are often caused by slipping eccentrics? 



664 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. Broken cylinder heads ; sheared crosshead or spider keys, 
caused by over-compression. 

Q. Under which circumstances will the front-head go? 
A. When the front end is full of steam that is shut in by 
the valve remaining over the front port. 

Q. When will the keys shear? 

A. When the back end is thus choked off. 

Q. Where both eccentrics and blades are slipped at the same 
time, can you give a way of setting them? 

A. It is simply a case of "valve setting/' since the eccentric 
rods, by changing their length, have destroyed the equality 
of valve travel, and the shifted eccentrics have produced a like 
result for the angular advance. The eccentric rods should be 
brought to such length as will cause the valve to travel equally 
over the ports, and the eccentrics turned to get the required 
angular advance or lead. 

One way would be to put the engine on the forward center, 
and set the go-ahead eccentric above the axle, and the back-up 
below; to put the reverse lever in the forward notch and 
advance the top eccentric until the front cylinder cock showed 
steam (the wheels being blocked and the throttle very slightly 
opened). Then the go-ahead eccentric might be fastened. 

To set the back-up eccentric the reverse lever may be put 
into back gear, and the eccentric turned toward the crank pin 
until steam shows at the front cylinder cock ; or else the back- 
up eccentric be set by the forward one which has ijust been 
set, as though the latter had not slipped. 

Q. How may an eccentric be set on the road? 

A. (i) By putting the engine near the center, and turning 
the eccentric until steam comes out of the cylinder cock nearest 
the piston; or (2) setting the slipped one by the one that has 
stayed in place; or (3) putting the crosshead about half an 
inch from stroke end at front end for a slipped forward eccen- 



ACCIDENTS TO ECCENTRICS. 665 

trie (at back end for a back-up eccentric) dropping the lever 
into the forward (or backward) notch, opening the cylinder 
cocks, turning on the oil blower, putting the slipped eccentric 
opposite the fixed one, and turning it ahead (or backward for 
a back-up sheave) until steam shows at the proper cylinder 
cock ; then make fast and go ahead. 

Q. Why put the crosshead half an inch from stroke end? 
A. To give a little lead. 

Q. Suppose there was no oil blower? 

A. I would put the engine on the forward center for a 
forward sheave, put the lever in the back notch, and scribe 
on the valve-stem flush with the gland; put the lever in the 
forward notch, turn the slipped eccentric opposite the fast 
one, turn it ahead (for a forward sheave) until the scribe mark 
on the stem came again flush with the gland, and then make 
fast. 

Q. Hozv should a slipped forward eccentric be set on a direct- 
motion engine? 

A. Place the engine with the cross-head within ^4 of an 
inch from the extreme travel ahead (pin above center line) ; 
put the reverse lever in the forward notch, give a little steam, 
and turn back the eccentric until steam comes out of the front 
cylinder cock, and set up the set screws there. 

Q. If a sectional eccentric is slipped and you cannot move 
it on the axle to get it back in position, what should be done? 

A. The section bolts slacked up so it can be moved, and, 
after getting it in proper position, and before the set screws 
are set up, the section bolts draw T n up tight again. 

Q. In resetting an eccentric on the road, what attention 
should be given to set screws and feathers? 

A. Feathers should be taken out and the metal cleaned out 
of the teeth. If set screws alone are used, the end "up" should 
be clean. 



GM LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. In case of shifted eccentric, where the key and set screws 
are lost, what is to be done? 

A. Borrow a set screw from each of two other eccentrics. 

Q. How can a slipped backing eccentric be put into good 
enough position to run with, if there are no marks by which 
to set it exactly? 

A. Get the engines on their dead center, hook the reverse 
lever clear forward, clamp the valve stem so that it cannot 
move, remove the bolt connecting the backing-eccentric rod 
to the link, throw the reverse lever all the way back, then 
move the slipped eccentric until you can put in the jaw bolt — 
being careful that the bellies of the two eccentrics on that side 
are on opposite sides of the axle. 

Q. How would you find the center in case of a slipped eccen- 
tric? 

A. I would not try to find it. I would, if I had slipped the 
right forward-motion eccentric, move engine ahead until cross 
head reached a point within one-half inch of end of its travel 
at forward end of the guides, then set the eccentric. At the 
end of the trip I would report what I had done. 

Q. What usually causes eccentrics to slip? 
A. Among other reasons, the set screws not being kept tight, 
or the eccentric getting hot and tightening up in the strap. 

Q. If an eccentric is slipped, on which center should the 
engine be placed to get at the eccentrics? 

A. The forward, because it is much more convenient to 
work in front of than behind the main axle. 

Q. Hozv can you set a slipped eccentric "by feel"? 

A. If the set-screw head is not twisted ofif and the screw 
can be backed out, usually the little finger can be put in the 
screw hole clean down to the axle and the sheave moved 
around until the "bite" or scar is felt, where the set-$crew tip 
was forced into the surface of the axle, 



ACCIDENTS TO ECCENTRICS. 667 

Q. In what cases will this not work? 

A. Where the eccentric is very thick ; in this case sometimes 
the scar can be fished for with a stout wire. 

Q. What should be the course in setting a slipped go-ahead 
eccentric, zvhere the engine has piston valves with inside admis- 
sion, and both rocker arms turned down? 

A. Run the piston ahead within half an inch of stroke end ; 
put the lever in back motion, scratch the valve stem, put the 
lever full forward and move the eccentric ahead ( following the 
pin) until the valve-stem mark comes back to the same place. 

Q. For a back-up eccentric? 

A. Put the lever full front, scratch the valve stem; set the 
lever full back, turn the sheave toward the cylinder until the 
valve-stem mark comes to the same place again. 

Q. What is the sign of excessive eccentric-rod length? 

A. In slow running ahead with open cylinder cocks the front 
cock shows steam much before stroke end, or the back cock 
does not show steam until after the back stroke end. 

Q. What is the sign of too short an eccentric rod? 

A. In slow running ahead with open cylinder cocks, the 
steam showing too late on the back stroke, too early on the 
front. 

Q. How does this compare with the effect of a slipping 
eccentric? 

A. In the latter case steam is too late or too early on both 
strokes. 

Q. What is the effect of a nut -working off an eccentric-strap 
bolt? 

A. The bolt drops out and the strap, if it does not break, 
opens out, thus giving the valve too much travel. 

Q. What kind of eccentric rods are liable to slip? 

A. Slotted ones. 

Q. How can this trouble be distinguished? 



668 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. By running slowly with open cylinder cocks first in one 
direction, then in the other. This will show too' free admission 
on one end and too slow on the other of one cylinder, in one 
gear, because the valve-travel is unequally divided each way 
from the exhaust center. 

Q. What is the difference between the irregularity here 
caused and that due to lengthening or shortening the valve 
stem? 

A. In the latter case the engine will be out of square in 
both gears ; in the former only in the one affected by the slipped 
blade. 

Q. How is it when the engine is closely hooked up? 

A. The back motion, if very badly out, will affect the for- 
ward motion also. 

ACCIDENTS TO LINKS AND LINK HANGERS. 

Q. What is to be done in case of a broken link? 

A. Disconnect the crippled side, take off both eccentric 
straps, and either remove the link or tie it to the tumbling- 
shaft arm with wire or bell cord. 

Q. Where both links are broken? 

A. Prepare to be towed in dead. 

Q. Suppose a link hanger is broken, is it possible to keep 
the engine on that side in steam? 

A. Yes ; by slipping a block in the link on the broken side 
so that the weight of link and eccentric rods will hold it in, 
and being careful not to cut off below a point corresponding 
to the limit set by the block. 

Q. Why not? ' 

A. The lifting-shaft arm would not clear the eccentric rods 
and link. 

Q. In letting the link carry o)i the block, zvhat precaution 
should be taken? 



ACCIDENTS TO ROCKER SHAFT. 669 

A. To tie some waste between, link and block, to prevent 
damage to the block. 

Q. What do you do in case of a broken link-block pin? 

A. Take out broken pin and disconnect that side of engine, 
taking down -both eccentric straps, as when link-block is not 
held by rocker-arm by its pin the link can tip against rocker- 
arm and catch, so as to spring eccentric-rods or move rocker- 
arm and valve. Although some disconnect valve from eccentric 
by taking out link-block pin and leaving eccentric straps 
and link still coupled up and moving, or disconnect the valve- 
stem, it is not safe. 

Q. Why disconnect the valve-stem? 

A. To avoid the possibility of the link uncovering the ports 
by striking the rocker-arm. 

Q. If a solid link is sprung, what must be done? 
A. The valve gear must be disconnected. 

Q. What may be done with a sprung sectional link? 

A. Unless too much damaged, the nuts on the top and 
bottom of the link bolts may be slacked, the latter partly with- 
drawn and a washer inserted, thick enough to let the link block 
move freely in the link when the lever is thrown over. After 
tightening the bolts, the engine may run. 

ACCIDENTS TO ROCKER AXD ROCKER SHAFT. 

Q. What is the course in case of. a broken rocker-shaft? 
A. Both eccentrics, the link and the main-rod must be taken 
down, and valve and piston secured. 

Q. What should be done in case the upper rocker-arm was 
broken? 

A. The valve-stem rod should be taken down and the valve 
set on the middle of the seat, the main rod taken down and 
the piston fastened at one end of the cylinder. 



670 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What should be done in ease of a broken bottom rocker- 
arm? 

A. The valve-rod should be taken off and the valve jammed 
in the central . position ; the main rod disconnected and the 
crosshead blocked at one end of the guides ; perhaps eccentrics 
and link taken down. 

Q. Should not the eccentric-straps and rods be taken off? 
A. Not unless the engine was in bad shape and the link- 
hangers loose. 

Q. Does a broken tumbling-shaft necessarily disable the 
engine ? 

A. No, although the train will not be so well under control. 

Q. How may the accident be temporarily healed? 

A. By putting the links in the most usual position to pull 
the train, and choking both link-blocks with wood, so they 
cannot travel either up or down. (If the engine need travel 
in only one motion, only one end of the link need be blocked.) 

In the "emergency kit'' there can be kept two hard-wood 
segments, each as long as the link-slot less the block; and 
these can be quickly sawed across, when wanted, at the neces- 
sary point. 

Q. What should be done in case it is desired to reverse the 
engine? 

A. The piece of wood that is fitted in the link should be 
reversed so as to give the back motion. 

Q. If you lost, or broke, a rocker-arm pin, what would 
you do? 

A. Get a bolt that would fill the holes in rocker-arm and 
valve-stem, and go along. 

Q. Would you not be afraid of damaging the bushings by 
an ill- fitting pin? 

A. No; those bushings are usually case-hardened, and even 
though rendered unfit for use again, the cost of replacing them 



ACCIDENTS TO LIFTER. 671 

would not be of so much importance as that of taking the 
train through, 

ACCIDENTS TO THE LIFTER. 

Q. If you broke a lifter, how would you manage? 

A. Place the lever at a point where the engine would start 
the train ; put a block on top of link-block on the broken side, 
long enough to carry that link at about the same hight as the 
good one, and go along. 

Q. After you had blocked up, would you for any cause drop 
the lever to a longer "cut-off" while engine is running ? 

A. It would not be safe. 

Q. Why not? 

A. Because the lifting arms of nearly all modern engines 
are fairly in line with the links. 

Q. What precaution must be taken about reversal in case of 
a broken lifter? 

A. The engine must not be reversed, as the lame side would 
be in forward gear and the good side in backward. 

Q. What disconnections should be made in case of a broken 
link-hanger? 

A. For a short run to the end of the trip, or to a shop, if 
the engine were running ahead and no reversals required, 
there need be no disconnecting; but for a long run the valve- 
rod should be taken off on the disabled side, the ports closed 
on that side, the valve-rod jammed, the main rod disconnected 
and the crosshead blocked at one end of the guides. Or, the 
link-slot chocked with wood, as for a broken tumbling-shaft. 

Q. Why do you say in your answer to this last question, 
"if the engine were running ahead and no reversals required"? 

A. Because if the link-hanger let the link drop I should 
have the engine in full forward gear and could run in that 
gear ; but I could not reverse, as there would be no way of 
raising the link on the disabled side. 



672 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What should be done in case of a broken saddle-pin? 

A. The link-lifter should be disconnected, and a piece of 
wood fitted in the link-slot between the top and the link-block, 
to hold up the link, in the desired position. 

ACCIDENTS TO THE REACH-ROD. 

Q. What is the course with a broken reach-rod? 

A. Block under one link-block and put a very short block in 
top of link on that side. When engine is moving, one link tends 
to slip up on its link-block while the other one is slipping 
down. If both links are blocked solid, top and bottom, the 
tumbling-shaft has to bend or spring. Some men block on 
top of link-block only. To reverse, put block in top end of 
one link to hold them up in back gear. 

Q. In this case, where should the link be blocked? 
A. So as to cut off at about half stroke. 

Q. How can the engine be controlled? 
A. By the brake, where there is one. 

Q. Suppose the reach-rod breaks on an engine without a 
driver brake, on a long down grade, what is to be done? 

A. (i) Fish for the links with a clinker-hook, if the speed 
is not too great; (2) pump her full of water if you can't catch 
the links.. 

Q. Why should not both links be chocked above and below 
the link-block when the reach-rod is broken? 

A. The tumbling-shaft or reversing arms would get bent. 

Q. Suppose the equalizer is broken, the reach-rod bound, the 
engine hooked up near the center and refusing to move ; what 
is to be done? 

A. Remove the pin from front reach-rod end; put the links 
down in go-ahead potion; run the front wheel on a wedge, 
chock with iron between back driver-box and frame; run the 



BLOWS AND LEAKS. 673 

back wheel up on the wedge and chock between the front 
driver-box and the frame. 



BLOWS AND LEAKS. 

Q. Where may a blozv take place? 

A. In the steam pipes or "nigger head/' from a split or hole 
in the steam ports, in the piston packing, valve-seat or balanced 
valve packing. 

Q. What is the usual nature of a blozv in the cylinders? 
A. Either intermittent with each double stroke, or a roar. 

Q. Hozv can you tell in which cylinder it occurs ? 
A. By running slowly and watching -the position of the 
crank-pins when it is the loudest. 

Q. What is the usual nature of a valve-seat blow? 

A. A sharp shrill whistle-like sound. 

Q. When the valve cocks at one end, hozv is the sound? 

A. Intermittent. 

Q. With a balanced valve, of zvhat is a steady strong blozv 
usually the sign? 

A. Of a broken valve-strip, rider or packing. 

Q. Hozv is a cocked valve cured? 

A. By sharp reversing two or three times. 

Q. Do balanced valves cock? 

A. No. 

Q. Of zvhat is it a sign when a valve blozvs under light 
throttle, but does not blozv with throttle full open? 

A. Of a slightly bent valve-stem. 

Q. Can a blowing valve always be told by the cylinder cocks? 

A. No, not unless the engine is running; as a blow from a 
valve when the engine is standing will pass up the stack. 

0. Hozv can you tell a chest blozv from a steam-pipe blozv? 

A. The former blows up the stack with a clear ring. The 



674 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

latter is more muffled ; if strong, increases the draft ; sounds, 
when the fire door is open, like a stay-bolt leak; shows water 
in the front end. 

Q. What is the cause of losing one exhaust? 
A. Probably a slipped eccentric, a cracked or broken valve- 
yoke, or a break, crack, or sand-hole in the bridge. 

Q. What is the blow caused by a broken valve-stem? 
A. A strong blow as long as the throttle is open. 

Q. What is a good way to test for a broken bridge? 
A. Steam showing at one cylinder-cock with the piston at 
one end of the cylinder, at two when it is at the other. 

Q. What is the blow peculiar to over-travel? 

A. Blowing in full gear and not when hooked up. 

Q. What causes this over-travel? 

A. Sometimes a loose top arm of the tumbling-shaft ; some- 
times a lost key. 

Q. What sound is due to a stopped-up nozzle? 

A. A wheeze or whistle which may be taken for a blow. 

Q. What sound is due to a lost nozzle-tip? 

A. Two very heavy and two very light exhausts. 

Qt What is the effect of a loose exhaust-pipe? 

A. The creation of a back draft, thus causing bad steaming. 

Q. What else produces the same effect as a leaky exhaust- 
pipe joint? 

A. Leaky steam-pipe joints; also loose diaphragm, loose 
exhaust-pipe thimble, or cinder-cap off the hopper or side of 
the extension. 

Q. What is the result of a leaky dry- pipe? 

A. Water working through the cylinders. 

Q. What is the sign when in the round house? 

A. Dribbling at cylinder-cocks. 

Q. What is the result of a leak at bottom of exhaust-pipe? 



BLOWS AND LEAKS. 675 

A. Increased exhaust, without blowing. 

Q. How can a steam-chest blow be located. 7 

A. By blocking the wheels, putting first one rocker-arm, 
then the other, in a vertical position, and slightly opening the 
throttle. If no steam shows at the cocks, the valve seats are 
tight. If there are exhaust-port drain-cocks, open them and 
see which side blows. If there is a double nozzle, open the 
front end and see which tip shows steam. If the tip is single, 
note the difference in the draft by means of a broom or a 
lighted torch; the blow w T ill be on the side which shows the 
weakest draft. Or make a little extra smoke with fresh coal, 
and watch w r hich side has the most draft. 

Q. What effect has a chest blow on the valve friction? 

A. To increase it and cause the valve to jerk; it also will 
make the leaky side handle harder when the pin is on the 
quarter. 

Q. What is usually the sign of a leaky valve-seat? 
A. Steam showing at both cocks with covered admission 
ports (but only in case the opposite side is tight). 

Q. Of what else may this be the sign? 

A. Of a leak beneath the false seat, if there is one ; or in 
case of a valve with inside clearance (negative inside lap) a 
blow-hole in the valve itself. 

Q. If steam shozes at only one cock, with covered ports, 
n'hat does it show? 

A. Usually a loose false seat; although it might be a sand- 
hole between the supply-port and the steam-port. 

Q. Hozi ] can you tell which end of a false seat is loose? 

A. The cylinder-cock of that end will show steam. 

Q. Hon' is the piston-packing tested for tightness? 

A. By putting each main pin first on one quarter (not 
center), then on the other, and giving a little steam w r ith the 
lever in full forward movement. Steam showing at only one 



676 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

cock proves the packing on that side. Putting the lever in 
full back-up position, steam at both cocks with one port open 
(but at only one) when the other is open shows a broken 
bridge, a broken valve-strip or ring, or a sand-hole in the 
bridge below the seat. 

Q. How can the broken bridge be placed? 
A. When steam shows at both cocks, it is bridge at the end 
which is open. 

Q. What difference in the blow from a broken bridge and 
that from a crack or a sand-hole? 

A. The former is usually much stronger. 

Q. If much steam shows at both cocks with the lever in 
both motions, what is indicated? 

A. A broken seat, or broken piston-rings. 

Q. How may this be decided? 

A. By taking off the cylinder-head. 

Q. How is a broken piston-ring to be told from a leaky one 
by the blow? 

A. The blow in the first case is stronger. 

Q. If the blow cannot be located by the steam test, what is 
to be done? 

A. First one supply port, then the other to be filled with 
water, and the corresponding open cock watched for a leak ; if 
none shows, the cylinder and steam-ports are to be filled and 
the exhaust-cock watched for a leak. 

Q. Can an engine cough unequally although the gear is 
correct? 

A. Yes; by reason of incorrect driver quartering, bent 
main-axle, ports of unequal size (either originally or by reason 
of a patch or a clog of some sort), unequal bores of cylinders 
that should be of equal diameters ; unequal eccentric-throws 
or eccentric-link radius; a hole in petticoat pipe or in stack, 



BLOWS AND LEAKS. 677 

leaky exhaust-pipe joint, cracked valve-yoke, cylinders loosely 
bolted on frames. 

Q. If there is a blow, how is it to be known whether it is 
a valve-blow or a packing-blow? 

A. By the sound — valve-blowing usually having a whistling 
sound at first. 

Q. If there is still a doubt as to whether it is valve or 
packing that is blowing, what should be done? 

A. The engine should be put at half-stroke, the front 
cylinder-head taken off, and the valve placed so as to admit 
steam back of the piston; then it can be seen whether the 
escaping steam comes from the port or from the packing. 

Q. To be sure which side of an engine is blonnng, how 
zvould you test the matter? 

A. By opening the smoke-box door and giving a little steam 
so as to see which exhaust-pipe gave out the steam. 

Q. Of what is it a sign alien an engine blows only when 
passing both centers? 

A. That the cylinder-packing is wrong. 

Q. Of what is it a sign when an engine blows when passing 
over only one center? 

A. That there is a hole in the follower or spider on the side 
on which the blow occurs. 

Q. Of what is it a sign alien on passing only one of the 
centers, there is a blow from both cylinder-cocks at once? 

A. If there is steam packing, that one of the rings is broken 
on the side of the blowing center. 

Q. Suppose that a blow occurs at the time when an engine 
is running, of what is it a sign? 

A. That there is trouble in the valves or in the steam-pipes. 
• O. Suppose that wlten an engine is running, steam comes 
from both cylinder-cocks at once at the time when the upper 
rock-shaft arm is vertical, of what is that a sign? 



678 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. That the valve on that side of the engine is blowing. 

Q. How can you tell whether or not the valve is at mid- 
travel? 

A. By opening the cylinder-cocks and admitting steam. If 
there is no blow, then the valve is certainly covering the ports. 
If there is a good blow at one end, it is by reason of the valve 
being in such position as to leave one of the ports uncovered. 
If there is a slight blow at both ends, it may arise from leakage 
of the piston, or from the valve being cocked, or from a broken 
valve-seat. 

Q. With the reverse-lever in forward gear, when should the 
forward cylinder-cocks show steam ? 

A. When the crank-pins are below the exhaust; and vice 
versa. 

Q. Suppose that there is an uneven sound of the exhaust, 
and on inspection the eccentrics are found in the proper posi- 
tion, the rocker-box all right, and all visible bolts, keys and 
pins in good order and proper position, where should the fault 
be looked for? 

A. In the steam-chest. 

Q. What sort of sound is made by a blowing valve? 

A. A wheezy sound with a suggestion of a whistle. 

Q. Is a whistling exhaust always a sound of a blowing 
valve? 

A. No ; it may mean that the nozzles are clogged with gum 
from bad oils. 

Q. What would be the effect upon the sound of the exhaust 
if a nut should work off an eccentric-strap bolt and let the 
strap open? 

A. It would make an uneven exhaust. 

Q. What should be done in case of the sudden starting of 
an uneven sound in the exhaust? 

A. The engine-runner should stop and look about the valve- 



BLOWS AND LEAKS. 679 

motion to see if there is not some lost motion which may be 
remedied at once ; otherwise there might be an accident. 

Q. What will show whether or not the piston-packing has 
been getting loose? 

A. An asthmatic sound of the exhaust, instead of the proper 
sharp ring. 

Q. Hozv many sounds of the exhaust are there for each 
driver-revolution? 
A. Four. 

Q. How can the engineer tell which piston is blowing? 

A. From the sound of the exhaust; thus in looking at the 
crank-pin of the right-hand driver, the exhaust that takes 
place just before it reaches the forward and the back centers 
will be from the right-hand piston, and those which occur just 
before it reaches the bottom and top quarters will be from the 
left-hand piston, so that an intermediate blow coming between 
the forward center and the bottom quarter, or between the 
back center and the top quarter, will be likely to be from 
trouble at the right-hand piston. 

Q. Do piston blozvs start suddenly, or come on gradually? 

A. Usually suddenly, by reason of a broken ring. 

Q. What is the sign made 'by a leaky steam-pipe? 

A. Much like the blower sound. 

Q. What is the sign of a leaky dry-pipe, as distinguished 
from a leaky throttle? 

A. A leaky dry-pipe will usually leak water if the boiler be 
well rilled up with water. 

Q. How can a blow from a valve balancing-strip be iden- 
tified? 

A. By putting the valve at mid-travel and slightly opening 
the throttle ; the hole in the valve being then over the exhaust- 
port the leak will blow through into the stack. 



680 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. With balanced valves, of zvhat is a uniform blow with a 
jerk on the reverse lever characteristic? 
A. Of a broken balance-strip spring. 

Q. Why does the cylinder-packing blow most at the begin- 
ning of the stroke? 

A. (i) There is more steam pressure; (2) this has already 
caused more wear in the box, where there is steam piston- 
packing. 

Q. What is the only sure way for a beginner to locate a 
blow? 

A. To see it. 

Q. How can this be done? 

A. By putting the engine on the suspected side so that the 
back steam-port is open, taking off the head, and giving a 
little steam. If the blow is in the packing, the steam will 
follow the cylinder-wall; if in the valve it will show at the 
front port. 

Q. Why not put the valve central? 

A. Because the seat might be cut but yet the valve make a 
good joint when central. 

Q. Will a cylinder-packing blow cause water to foam in a 
boiler? 

A. No. It is harmless as far as its action on the boiler is 
concerned, except in waste of steam. 

Q. If your engine suddenly commenced to blow badly when 
taking steam in one end of either cylinder, what would it 
denote? 

A. That the valve seat was broken. 

Q. How would you make sure? 

A. By placing the engine on the quarter and letting steam 
in to both cylinder ends alternately. 

Q. Hoiv zvould you disconnect in such a case? 



BLOWS AND LEAKS. 681 

A. Cover ports, disconnect the valve-stem and take down the 
main rod. 

Q. What is the character of the blow due to leaky' balance- 
valve strips? 

A. Intermittent and stronger at mid-valve travel than at 
the ends. 

Q. If the hole in the back of the valve is not large enough 
to take care of the leakage, what will be the result? 

A. Jerking of the reverse lever when the crank is on the 
centers. 

Q. What is essential in testing any engine for leaks and 
blozvs? 

A. That the cylinders be hot and well lubricated. 

Q. How can you tell on which side a balanced valve is 
blozi'ing? 

A. (i) By putting the valve at mid-travel so as to bring 
the relief hole over the cylinder exhaust port. (2) Where the 
engine has two holes tapped into the base of the exhausts 
under the saddle for condense water, block the driving-wheels 
and give steam ; this will show which side blows. Where there 
are no holes under the saddle, open the front end and see out 
of which exhaust steam comes. (3) On pulling out, or on a 
heavy up grade, put your foot on the valve-stem ; the side 
that blows will jar the foot on account of the extra friction if 
the lubricator is working well. (4) Put the engine on the 
quarter, first one side, then the other; open the throttle a 
little ; move the reverse lever back and forth ; as only one valve 
is moved at each operation the slowing one can be detected. 
(5) Put on the driver-brake; make a little smoke in the fire- 
box ; shut off the air-pump ; open the throttle. The smoke will 
ascend straight up that side of the stack corresponding to the 
"good" side. (6) Where the valve-rods are long, the blowing 
side will have the most rod vibration. (7) If at night, stand 



682 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

on the boiler behind the stack, hold a lighted torch in front 
and see from which side the most steam comes. (8) By day, 
put both hands over the stack and feel from which side the 
most steam comes. (9) Move the engine with a light throttle; 
watch the cylinder-cocks ; the side with the broken strip or 
weak spring will blow continuously at the corresponding 
cocks. (10) Put the engine on either center; the side on 
which the valve blows if the lever moves hard will be the 
opposite side. (11) Running at 10 to 15 miles an hour, 
open the throttle just so that the lever can be held with latch 
free ; hook it down to half stroke or so ; if either valve blows, 
there will be two jerks of the lever per wheel turn, one at 
each reversal of the valve movement; and by watching the 
valve-rod or the rocker-arm the faulty side may be detected. 
(12) In backing out under cover, use light throttle and watch 
the crosshead; the leaky valve will muffle the exhaust on its 
side just as the exhaust fills the valve-arch. 

Q. In case there should be four jerks of the lever per wheel 
turn, in the eleventh test mentioned, of zvhat is that a sign? 
A. That both valves were blowing. 

Q. If the cylinder packing is blowing through, how do you 
tell which side? 

A. By placing the engine on the top quarter, then putting 
the lever ahead, to open the back steam-port, and opening the 
throttle. If the front cylinder end fills with steam, that side 
blows. 

Q. If steam comes out of both cylinder-cocks on one side, 
and at the same time, what does it denote? 

A. That the cylinder-packing is blowing, or the valve or 
seat badly cut. 

Q. Can you distinguish the difference betzveen the blow of 
a cut valve and that of cylinder-packing? 

A. Yes. If the cylinder-packing is blowing, it will make a 



LAME EXHAUST. 683 

uniform sound to nearly stroke end, and then let up a little ; 
if it is the valve, the blow will start in heavy, let up about the 
middle of stroke, and be heavy again at stroke end. 

Q. At what point in the stroke does cylinder-packing blozv 
the hardest? 

A. At the beginning, because (i) the pressure is the 
greatest; (2) the wear of the cylinder is also greatest at the 
ends. 

Q. At what point of the stroke does the piston-packing blozv 
the most in a simple engine? 

A. At the beginning. 

Q. How can it be detected from the right side only? 

A. Watch the right crosshead ; if the blow is when this is at 
stroke end, the blow is on that side ; if when the crosshead is 
at mid-stroke, it is on the left side. 

Q. If you had disconnected and found that the valve leaked 
a little steam into the cylinder, what would you do? 

A. Take out the cylinder-cock at that end where the piston 
is blocked. 

Q. Why not take out both cocks? 

A. The steam that would leak in at that end would help 
keep the disconnected piston in place. 

LAME EXHAUST. 

Q. What are the principal causes of lame exhaust? 

A. (1) The valves may need to be squared; (2) there may 
be a loose eccentric or strap or other part of the valve-gear ; 
(3) one exhaust-nozzle may be closed more than the other, or 
be choked; or (4) a main rod may have been lined too long 
or too short. 

Q. // you stopped and found none of the latter three the 
cause, and when you started up she was "square/' how would 
you account for it? 



684 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. That one of the valves was dry and that after I shut off, 
the oil had run down out of the pipe and lubricated it. 

Q. What other defects will cause an engine to sound ''lame"? 

A. (i) Some engines have a petticoat pipe, in which the 
exhaust will wear a hole which will make the "lame" sound. 
(2) The tumbling shaft may be sprung, allowing the engine to 
work at later cut off on one side. This will not throw the 
exhaust "out of time," but give her two heavy exhausts on 
one side and two light ones on the other. 

Q. What may be said of the custom of lining or dividing 
the valves by the sound of the exhaust? 

A. It is good enough if the exhaust-nozzles are closed the 
same, and neither of them is choked. 

Q. Suppose that while watching the crosshead a heavy 
exhaust-beat comes when the crosshead is near the back center, 
zvhat should be done? 

A. The eccentric-rod should be shortened. 

Q. Is this rule true both for forward and for backzvard 
motion? 

A. Yes. 

Q. About how much should be let out or taken up, at a 
time, in changing the length of the eccentric-rod to square the 
valve? 

A. Not more than one-sixteenth of an inch at a time. 

Q. How can you square the valves by the use of the cylin- 
der-cocks? 

A. Mark the guides at the end of the crosshead stroke ; open 
the cylinder-cocks and move the engine slowly until steam 
shows at one of the cocks ; measure the distance from the 
mark on the guide to where the crosshead is when steam first 
shows ; then do the same thing at the other end, and see if the 
two distances are the same. If steam comes later at the front 
end than at the back (and there is a rock-shaft), the eccentric- 



LAME EXHAUST. 685 

rod should be shortened ; if it comes too soon at the front end, 
the eccentric-rod should be lengthened. 

Q. In zvhich direction should the engine be moved in squar- 
ing the valves by means of the cylinder-cocks? 

A. Ahead in squaring for forward motion, and backward in 
squaring for backward motion. 

Q. Is this the case both for engines having rock-shafts and 
for those not having them? 

A. Yes, as far as regards the direction of running the 
engine; but in case there is no rock-shaft the eccentric-rod 
should be lengthened in case steam is too late at the front end, 
and shortened in case it is too early at the front end. 

Q. How may the valves be squared or divided with the chest- 
covers off? 

A. The valve should be made line to line with the outside 
edge of the end port at one end, and the position of the cross- 
head marked on the guide ; the position of the crosshead when 
the engine is on each center should be marked ; the engine 
should be turned over until the valve is line-and-line with the 
outside edge of the other end port, and the position of the 
crosshead on the guides marked. If the distances of the 
crosshead marks from the stroke-end marks are the same, the 
valve is set square as regards admission ; if not, the eccentric- 
rod should be lengthened or the valve-rod shortened, or vice 
versa, until the two distances are the same at both ends. The 
engine should be worked in the backward motion for squaring 
it for the forward motion, until it is as square as possible for 
both motions. 

Q. In marking the crosshead positions, zvhat precautions 
should be taken to insure squareness? 

A. That the same mark on the crosshead is made to come 
line-and-line with the marks on the guides, at all positions. 
This being the case it makes no difference at what part of the 
crosshead the mark is made. 



686 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

MISCELLANEOUS ACCIDENTS. 

Q. When the valve-gear is out of order, what is the first 
thing to do? 

A. To see if both sides are affected, or only one; if the 
latter, which one. 

Q. How is this done? 

A. By testing the cylinder-cocks under steam. With the 
gear in forward motion the front cocks should show steam 
when the pins are in the lower half of their course. 

Q. Tn what order should the trouble be sought? 

A. Eccentrics, eccentric-shafts and blades, rocker and box, 
bolts, pins and keys ; and finally, if not found outside the valve- 
chest, therein. 

Q. An 18 x 28 eight-zvheel engine had a light three-car 
train; eccentrics and straps badly worn, and ratchet on reverse- 
lever also somewhat worn. Engine voas making about 20 
miles an hour zvorking at 6-inch cut-off and suddenly lever 
went into back motion. What was the cause? 

A. The forward pull on the reach-rod when running ahead 
was caused by something caught in the steam-chest; or some- 
thing hit part of the valve-gear. 

Q. What might be the case if a stuffing box was not screwed 
up fair? 

A. The rod might be heated and bent. 

Q. How may an engine be got off the center when one side 
is disconnected? 

A. (1) By the pinch-bar. (2) Where there is a push-out 
driver-brake on the frame back of the rear driving wheel, by 
letting out the adjustment on the driver-brakes, cutting out 
the tender-brake, cutting out the train-line with the angle-cock 
at the head end of the head car (or rear end of tender) ; 
taking coal-boards or other strong sticks to reach from the 
brake-cylinder piston to a rear driver-spoke (high up) ; 



MISCELLANEOUS ACCIDENTS. 687 

bringing train-line pressure up to 90 ; this will boost the wheel 
off the center before the shoes are hard on the tires. 

Q. What is then to be done? 

A. Release the brake, open the angle-cock, pick up the push- 
sticks and go ahead. 

Q. What is the greatest difficulty in fixing up a broken 
spring or hanger where the spring is underhung? 

A. Jacking the engine up high enough to get enough block- 
ing in between the driving box top and the frame, between the 
latter and the end of the driving spring, or between the frame 
and the equalizer end. 

Q. What care should be taken in disconnecting one side? 

A. Not to set the good side on the quarter, but about on the 
eighth, so as to give time to take up the draft-rigging slack. 

Q. Should steam be used when pinching off? 

A. No ; it loads the valve and actually opposes the pinching. 

Q. Where should disconnecting be done in case of an acci- 
dent? 

A. If there is a siding near, as much of the disconnecting 
should be done there as possible, to free the main track. 

Q. In case of a wreck on a double-track road, in what order 
should the tracks be cleared? 

A. All of one track should be cleared first, so that trains 
may go around the remainder of the wreck; then the other 
may be cleared. 

Q. In case of breaking down, what is the first duty after 
seeing to the immediate safety of the engine from explosion 
or burning? 

A. To guard the train by sending a man back on the road. 

Q. What precaution should be taken in freezing zveather 
alien the fire is drawn? 

A. To drain all water from pumps and injectors, feed and 
branch-pipes ; and if there seemed danger of the water in the 



688 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

boiler itself freezing, it should be run out of both boiler and 
tank. 

Q. What should be done in case there are no frost-plugs in 
the feed and branch pipes? 

A. The joints should be slacked to let the water leak out 
through them. - 

Q. When running on one side, what care should be taken in 
stopping? 

A. To stop with the working crank off the center. 

Q. How may this be done? 

A. Just before stopping, let off the brakes, reverse, give a 
little steam, and work the reverse lever to and fro until the 
crank is just where desired. 

Q. In case of a long stall in the snow, zvhat should be done 
as regards the boiler and tender? 

A. They should be emptied to prevent freezing ; the cylinder- 
cocks and wash-out plugs being removed and joints in pocketed 
parts, as of pipes, broken. 

Q. What may be the effect of an accumulation of cinders in 
the "long front end"? 

A. Burning or warping it, or cracking the frame door. 

Q. What should be done in case of a disconnected tank- 
valve? 

A. Arrange the injector as a heater as elsewhere explained, 
put on steam suddenly and try to blow out the valve. 

Q. What classes of shop repairs will it pay engine runners 
and firemen to observe? 

A. Piston packing, valve-facing, rod-brass filing or scraping, 
wedge-lining, truck-wheel changing, brass-replacing, spring- 
replacing, etc. 

Q. What is one of the principal causes of hot driver, journal, 
crank-pin and broken rod brasses? 

A. Improper setting of the driver-box wedges and keying 



MISCELLANEOUS ACCIDENTS. 689 

both side-rod and butt-end main-rod brasses ; as for instance 
setting the driver-box wedges when the engine is on the top 
quarter, and setting rod brasses with the engine in the same 
position. 

Q. What is the proper way to set the wedges? 

A. The engine should be placed on the center, and the driver 
brake (if it be applied to the wheel on the wedge side of the 
box) be set and allowed to remain while the wedges are being 
adjusted. The brake will hold the box and journal against 
the shoe, and thus there will be a maximum amount of slack. 
The adjustment can then be made to a nicety. 

Q. Should rod brasses be keyed in the above-named position 
of the engine? 

A. Yes, as the keying is done on the large part of the bear- 
ings, and if there is sufficient lubrication the engine should 
give no trouble by heating. 

Q. In zvhat order should this zvork be done? 

A. First the binder braces tightened, then the wedges, and 
lastly the rod brasses. 

Q. Suppose the driver brake is on the opposite side from 
the wedges, or there is none? 

A. The engine should be placed on the center, the wedges 
set up as far as they can be set with a ten-inch wrench, next 
pulled down until fairly loose, then finally set up to where the 
slack is enough removed. 

Q. What would be the probable cause of the wheel flanges 
of an engine just out of the repair shops, cutting on one side? 

A. There may be two causes. The front truck casting, if 
there be a truck, may not be exactly in the center. More 
likely, the engine truck spring is defective or broken ; and when 
such is the case, the leading driver on that side usually cuts its 
flange. 

Q. What is the remedy? 



690 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. Leveling up the truck. 

Q. What would be the easiest way to block an engine in the 
event of a broken deck pin or casting on the engine used in 
coupling the engine and tender? 

A. The broken pin can be replaced by another pin, using the 
king pin of a car (this could be taken from some "empty," on a 
side-track), but in the event of a fracture of the casting at the 
pin hole, or the breaking of the shackle bar through the pin 
hole, no blocking would serve. Heavy chains could be fastened 
to the tail brace of the engine and to the iron tender frame, 
or around its center casting, and the chains tightened by putting 
a bar between them and twisting them, up, then securing the 
bar in place when the lost motion was taken up. 

Q. Are derailments more likely to occur on curves, or on 
straight reaches? 

A. On curves, by reason of the tangential force which tends 
to make the train keep on in the straight line on which it was 
last traveling; that is, fly off the curve at a tangent. 

Q. What other name is given to this force? 

A. Centrifugal force. 

Q. Do all derailments on curves occur by reason of faulty 
track? 

A. No ; often they are caused by faulty rolling stock. 

Q. What is the most important insurance for safety, as far 
as the track is concerned? 
A. Smooth surface, and line. 

Q. Why is a rough surface dangerous? 

A. Because it sets up in the rolling stock rocking motions 
which relieve the outside wheels of load and permit the flanges 
to climb the rails more readily than when the full share of the 
load is being carried by the outer rail. 

Q. What means are used to counteract the tendency of the 
train to run off at a tangent? 



ACCIDENTS TO FRAME. 691 

A. The outer rail is raised. 

Q. What is often as dangerous as too little curve elevation? 

A. A low joint in the outer rail. 

Q. What may be said of car bearings, as regards running 
carves? 

A. The adjustment of a car body on its bearings is an 
important matter ; a car with weak bolsters, or one too heavily 
loaded on one side, may rest so heavily on its side bearings 
that the trucks will not swivel off the curve until very heavy 
flange pressure on the wheels against the rails is developed, 
which may cause derailment. 

Q. What is a more frequent cause of derailment? 

A. Sharp wheel flanges ; that is, those which have lost their 
curvature, so that the flange climbs the rail, especially at high 
speed. 

ACCIDENTS TO THE FRAME. 

Q. Should an engine frame break, zvhat should be done? 

A. As a rule, run slowly with a light train. 

Q. In case of a frame being broken between the cylinder 
and forward driving box, what should be done? 

A. Main rod taken down, if the crack opens up when the 
engine is working steam, as it usually does. 

Q. In this case, hozv about getting towed in? 

A. Another engine pulling would be dangerous. 

Q. Is it necessary to take doivn the main rod if the frame is 
broken between the cylinder and forward driving box? 

A. If the opening of the frame at each stroke caused or 
permitted the piston to strike the cylinder head, that side 
should be disconnected. 

Q. What is to be done zvhere one frame breaks betzveen the 
main axle and the cylinder? 

A. Watch out for the same break on the other side ; get in 
light, unless you can get towed in. 



692 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What should be done if the frame were broken between 
the forward and back driving boxes? 
A. Take down the side rods. 

Q. Would you take dozvn either main rod if the frame is 
broken between forward and back driving boxes? 
A. No. 

Q. What is to be done for a broken truck frame? 
A. Try splicing it together, using a piece of rail or a 
wooden beam as a "fish," and a chain. 

Q. For a broken pony truck center pin, what is to be done? 
A. "Mend it with a new one" if possible. 

Q. How mould you fasten up to pull a full train to terminal 
in- case you broke the drawbar between engine and tender? 

A. ( i ) Use a steel tail rope or switch rope ; couple one end 
to the engine-deck pin, run rope under the engine and fasten 
the other end to the first car, solid and without slack. There 
would be no strain on any coupling between engine and tender, 
and if the train coupling broke it would not pull the tender 
loose. Or (2) use a chain in the same manner; but it would 
be more trouble to get it back under the tender among the 
brake rigging. Some iron-framed tenders can have the chain 
from the engine-deck run around the forward center casting, 
but it is no safer than to chain to the first car. 

Q. Suppose the pin hole in the deck is broken out? 

A. A short piece of T-rail can be put across in the frame 
and the chain put around it. 

ACCIDENTS TO THE WHEELS, 

Q. fn swinging the back drivers, how would you place 
weight on the tender truck without throwing it on the springs? 

A. I would not put it on tender at all, but would block 
between boxes and frame of the forward wheels, transferring 
the load from the back drivers to these, The same thing 



ACCIDENTS TO WHEELS. 



693 



applies to a ten-wheeler as to a mogul, excepting the truck. 
Except on small roads, the first thing is to get off the main 
line, to prevent traffic delay. 

Q. What precaution should be taken about backing, with 
an engine that had broken or lost a back driving wheel? 

A. Backing would not be safe, particularly on curves, by 
reason of there being nothing to guide the engine, so it should 
not be attempted. 

Q. What would you do in case of a broken rear wheel on 
a four-wheel truck? 

A. Chain it to a piece of timber or a piece of rail laid across 
so that it could not turn; then go ahead, skidding the wheels 
of that axle. 

Q. What would you do in case of the breakage of the front 
wheel of a four-wheel engine truck? 

A. As for a rear wheel, but only in order to get to a side 
track, if there be one near, as the best place to turn the truck 
around. Then, having made the front wheel the rear one, it 
may be run skidding. 



L 




^ 



K_ 



1 




Fig. 401A. Broken Truck Wheels. 

Q. With a broken mogul engine truck wheel or axle, what 
would you do? 

A. Take it out if necessary; chain engine truck to engine 
frame; block up on top of forward driving boxes. 



694 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. With broken tender truck wheel or axle, ivhat would 
you do? 

A. If with broken wheel, try and skid it to the next station, 
to clear main line. With broken axle, take disabled wheels 
out and suspend that part of truck to tender. Block over the 
good wheels in this truck and under tender frame. 

Q. How can a wheel be skidded to the next side track, if 
there is a piece broken out? 

A. By laying a tie in front of that pair of wheels. 

Q. Should the wheel centers be out of tram, how can you 
find which pair is "out"? 

A. By calipering between the frame and the flat wheel faces 
at the largest wheel diameter. The clearances should be the 
same, measured at the same distance from the wheel centers. 

Q. How may a zvheel hub be mended, when there is a split 
or crack from the axle toward the pin? 




Fig. 402. Broken Wheel Hub. 

A. By a dovetail or dumbbell piece, fitting in an opening 
made by slotting out between two drill holes, The piece 
should be driven in hot and let draw the parts together. The 
recess should be undercut (Fig. 402). 



ACCIDENTS TO AXLES. 695 

ACCIDENTS TO THE AXLES. 

Q. What should be done in case a driving axle breaks? 

A. If the wheels are in position, it is often the case that the 
engine may be run without its train to a side track, pending 
the arrival of the wheels and axle. 

Q. What is to be done when an axle breaks on a consolida- 
tion engine? 

A. Drive out bolts at the knuckles and front end of main 
rod, remove rods and wheel ; run the fourth wheel high up 
on a wedge, clearing the frame of the first and second boxes ; 
block well up on top of these ; run the fourth wheel off the 
wedge and raise the second; then block up on the fourth set 
of boxes ; run the second wheel off the wedge to see if the 
pilot clears the rail well ; with a lever raise up the axle against 
the resistance of the spring; block under the cellar. Discon- 
nect valve stem and block crosshead, etc. Screw up the side 
rods ; start easily without slipping ; run to side track. 

Q. Suppose you can not start easily? 

A. Get pulled or pushed out. 

Q. What damage is likely to be done in this run? 

A. Shearing strap bolts. 

Q. Where do the driving axles of outside-connected engines 
usually break? 

A. In the box, or between it and the wheel. 

Q, Can an engine be run with a broken fore axle? 

A. Depends on where it is broken; sometimes,, where the 
break is outside the frame, the truck may be raised on the 
side in question and chained so that the wheel will hug the 
rail. 

Q. Can this be done with a Bis sell (two-wheel) truck? 

A. No. 

Q. What should be done with a broken main axle on a ten- 
wheeler, where the break is close to the wheel? 



696 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. Take down all side rods, jack up the broken axle, 
replace the oil cellar on the short side by a block, and chock 
in between that block and the pedestal brace. Remove main 
rod, disconnect valve rod, cover the ports on the lame side, 
run in light. 

0. Suppose the break is inside the journal bearings? 

A. Jack up the wheels on the broken axle until the boxes 
touch the frames ; hang the wheels to the frame by running 
a tie between their spokes and over the frame, and wedge 
under the tie so as to chock the boxes against the frame ; 
chain the wheels together at the bottom. Jack up one side so 
that the pedestal braces touch the boxes; block up (or down) 
the ends of the spring and equalizer; repeat this on the other 
side. The lame wheels being clear of the rail, the engine may 
be towed in, after all rods and eccentric straps are taken 
down. 

Q. Suppose the springs will not carry the engine high 
enough? 




Fig. 403. Blocked Driving Axle. 

A. Jack up again and block between driving boxes and 
frames. 

Q. What should be done in case of the breakage of the 






ACCIDENTS TO AXLES. 697 

front driving axle on a six-wheel-connected engine, outside 
the driving box? 

A. All the side-rods should be taken off; the broken wheel 
removed, and the axle blocked up from the pedestal cap to a 
position parallel with the other axles. The good wheel should 
be kept resting on the rail, the train left, and the engine 
moved slowly to a position whence help may be asked. 

Q. What should be done in case of a six-ii'heel-connected 
engine having its front driving axle broken inside of the 
driving box? 

A. All side rods should be taken down, the wheels on the 
broken axle raised clear of the rails and blocked from the 
pedestal caps ; the train left, and the engine moved slowly to 
a position whence help may be asked. 

Q. What should be done in case of the breakage of the 
back driving axle of a four-zvhcel-connected engine? 

A. The same as in the case of breakage of a front driving 
wheel on a six-wheel-connected engine. 

Q. What should be done in case of breakage outside of the 
box, of the back driving axle of a six-vchecl-connected engine? 

A. Take off the wheel and both back side rods ; block up 
the axle from the pedestal cap so as to bring it as nearly as 
possible parallel with the other axles, letting the guide wheel 
rest on the rail; leave the train and run the engine slowly 
to the nearest place from which to get help or at which to get 
instructions. 

Q. What should be done in case of breakage, inside of the 
box, of the back driving axle of a six-zvheel-connected engine? 

A. Both side rods should be taken off, both wheels raised 
to clear the rails and blocked from the pedestal caps, and the 
engine run without train. 

Q. What should be done in case of breakage, outside of the 



698 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

driving box, of the main driving axle of a six-wheel-connected 
engine? 

A. All side rods and the broken wheel should be taken off, 
the main rod taken down, the crosshead blocked at the front 
end of the guides, the valve rod disconnected, the ports cov- 
ered with the valve, and the latter clamped in place; the 
broken end of the axle blocked up from the pedestal cap, the 
train left, and the engine run slowly to the nearest place from 
which help may be asked. 

Q. What should be done in case of breakage of the main 
driving axle of a six-wheel-connected engine, inside of the 
driving box? 

A. Help should be sent for to the nearest telegraph sta- 
tion. Pending its arrival the engine should be got ready for 
towing in. 

Q. In what cases cannot driving axles be supported from 
the pedestal caps? 

A. In the rear drivers of a Mbgul engine. 

Q. What would you do in the case of a broken tire, or bent 
or broken driving axle, of a Mogul engine? 

A. I should disconnect the back parallel rods, get a piece 
of timber or of railway iron as long as the axle and thrust 
it between the spokes of the wheels on the crippled axle, in 
order to keep them from turning, then run to a siding with 
the forward wheels, letting the rear ones skid. 

Q. What is the effect of excessive end play between driving 
wheels and boxes? 

A. It is hard on the rods and makes a rough-riding engine ; 
besides being hard on the road bed. 

Q. How much end play should there be between driving 
wheels and their boxes? 

A. One-sixteenth inch, at most. 

Q. What should be done in case of a broken tender axle? 



ACCIDENTS TO EQUALIZERS. 699 

A. The truck should be chained up as in the case of a broken 
wheel. 

Q. What other breakages generally accompany breakage of 
a driving axle? 

A. Breakage of side axles and main rod, on pins. 

Q. What is to be done for a broken front axle or journal in 
the track? 

A. The front end jacked up free of the truck; pilot removed, 
front jaws taken out, w T heels rolled out, a tie run across the 
main frames and another under the truck frame where the 
brass had been, the truck frame jacked up close to the main 
frame and the ties chained together at each end. 

Q. Suppose there is no front or pilot sheet and the main 
frames are inconveniently placed? 

A. Chain each side of the truck frame up to the main 
frame, independent of the other side. 

Q. In case of a broken back truck or journal? 

A. The same as for the front. 

Q. What precaution should be taken in running z^ith a 
chained-up truck axle? 

A. To run very slowly for fear of displacement, particu- 
larly over frogs. 

EQUALIZERS. 

Q. If you broke an over-hung equalizer, what would you 
do? 

A. Jack up the back end of the engine on the damaged side, 
take out the broken equalizer and springs, run the front wheel 
on a wedge, or jack it up, block up between top of back driv- 
ing box and frame, run the back wheel on the wedge and 
block between front box and frame, remove spring saddles, if 
possible, and nuts, and put in washers (or better yet, rubber 
springs) on top of the driving boxes where the broken equal- 
izer had been. 



700 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. Is it always necessary to block over the axle box? 
A. No; if the break is Very near the end, a beam or a piece 
of rail may be thrust under between the stump and the frame. 

Q. What is the proper material to use in blocking up over 
driving boxes with under equalizers? 

A. Iron is about the only thing that will carry a heavy 
engine. 

Q. What is to be done in case of a broken intermediate 
equalizer on a Mogul? 

A. Block between the cross equalizer and the boiler; re- 
move the broken parts. 

Q. For raising an engine for broken equalizer, which is 
better — zvedges or jacks? 

A. Wedges are usually easier to handle, but are only recom- 
mended for straight tracks; otherwise the rear end should be 
jacked up. 

Q. What is the objection to the use of wedges? 
A. Liability of the wheels becoming derailed. 

Q. Suppose you have no jacks, what should be done in case 
of a broken equalizer? 

A. Nuts should be used to block up, on top of all driving 
boxes ; one of the driver pairs that has no spring on it should 
be moved on to the hard wedges or blocks, and one that has 
wheels on the rail should be blocked with hard wood on top; 
next, the wedges should be taken out and placed under the 
other driving wheels, the engine moved on to them, and 
blocked up on top of the other driving boxes, then the wedges 
and all nuts used for blocking on the other boxes should be 
taken away, and the engine will be ready to start. 

Q. In case of a broken' center pin in the forward end of a 
long equalizer on a Mogul, what should be done? 

A. (i) The front end jacked or wedged up, the dropped 
end of the equalizer jacked up to place and pinned there if 



ACCIDENTS TO EQUALIZERS. 701 

there is a pin handy; if not, chained to a tie placed across 
the front end. Or (2) the free end of the equalizer jacked 
off the axle, and let down on a truck brass. 

Q. What would you do if the equalizer were under the 
frame and broken off very near the end? 
A. Chain the stump down to the frame. 

Q. What is the remedy in case of a broken equalizer 
stand? 

A. As for a broken equalizer. 

Q. What should be done in case the equalizer stand bolts 
are broken? 

A. Jack up the engine and put in other bolts. 

Q. If the "Aleck pin" is broken on a Mogul engine and you 
block over the truck axle and under the truck equalizer, is it 
necessary to block over the cross equalizer and under the 
boiler? 

A. No; only to see that something is put between the axle 
and equalizer, which will not cause too much friction. 

Q. In case an 'equalizer breaks, in an underhung engine, 
how must the engine be blocked up? 

A. By running first the front wheel and then the back up 
on a wedge and each time blocking between the frame and 
the driving box; then prying down the equalizer ends and 
blocking between them and the frame ; next taking out the 
blocks from the boxes and you have both springs in use — but 
no equalization. 

Q. How may the equalizer ends be kept in place in case of 
accident? 

A. By safety-strap or check pieces as shown in CD, Fig. 
404, instead of being left unprotected as in Fig. 405. 

Q. What is to be done for broken equalizer post or bracket 
bolts, letting the engine do-wn on the boxes? 

A. The cotters removed from the upper ends of the end 



702 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



front and back spring hangers, the back driver run up on a 
wedge, an iron block put between the front driver box and the 
frame, then the front wheel run up on the wedge, and an iron 
block put between back-driver box and frame. 




Fig. 404. Broken Equalizer and Safety Straps. 

Q. What would you do for a broken cross equalizer on a 
Mogul? 

A. One way would be to jack up the front end of the 
engine and carry the frame on blocking over the front driv- 
ing-axle boxes; take out the springs and the broken parts of 




Fig. 405. Broken Equalizer and Safety Straps. 

the equalizer, and block down the intermediate equalizer by 
pieces between its end and the upper bar of the frame. 

Q. Any other way? 

A. Jack up the front end of the engine, and chain the front 
end of the driving spring down to the frame, in case there is 
room for a chain. 



ACCIDENTS TO EQUALIZERS. 



702 



Q. Should the intermediate equalizer of a Mogul be broken, 
what would be the remedy? 

A. Jack up the front end of the engine, and either (i) 
block over the front axle box, as for a broken cross equalizer, 
or (2) block between the cross equalizer and the boiler; of 
course taking out the broken part ; then run slowly. 

Q. What should be done in ease of an equalizer that W 
broken or cracked at the center? 

A. Take it out, or chain the ends of the springs to the 
frames as if it was broken. 

Q. In case it is cracked near the end? 

A. Take out the spring hanger at the injured end and 
chain the spring to the frame, blocking between the equalizer 
and the latter, between the crack and the post. 





Fig. 406. Clamp for Removing Gib in Spring Equalizer. 



704 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



Q. What 9 is the best device for removing gibs from spring 
equalizers, without jacking up the engine? 

A. As shown in Figs. 406 and 407, the latter being for 
consolidation engines and having two straps, one marked A, 
going inside the frame, and the other marked B, and having 
a flaring bottom, going outside. This is so shaped as to allow 
room for the ratchet handle to work. The nut plate is grooved 



3 



/ \\ 



Fig. 407. Equalizer Gib Remover for Consolidation Engines. 

at each end to keep the straps in place and hold the plate 
steady. The gib shown goes through the slots in each strap 
across the equalizer.* 

Q. Suppose that there are no jacks about? 

A. Then the driver should be run onto a stick of wood or 
a block of iron four to six inches thick, under the front wheel, 
to ease the back one, or under the back wheel if it is the for- 
ward one that is crippled. 

ACCIDENTS TO TIRES. 

Q. What are the indications that a driving-wheel tire is 
loose? 

A. Oil is generally seen oozing out between center and 
tire. 

Q. If an eight-wheel engine breaks off a front tire, and 
wheel center is swung clear of rail by blocking up over pedestal 



* Invention of Mr. Henry Tregelles, Erie Shops, Salamanca, N.'Y. 



ACCIDENTS TO TIRES. 705 

brace, and block put under forward end of equalizer instead 
of taking spring out over broken wheel, is it safe to run in 
with mam rod connected up to broken wheel? 
A. It is done often and successfully. 

Q. With a broken tire on an eight -wheeler, should the side 
rod be taken dowm? 

A. Xot necessarily, especially for a front tire, unless perhaps 
to lessen the weight behind. 

Q. What zvould you do in case of broken front tire on 
Mogul or ten-wheel engine? 

A. Same as for any tire on an eight-wheeler. 

Q. Main tire on Mogul? 

A. Same as for preceding question. 

Q. With the back tire on a Mogul? 

A. Block up both back wheels as far as possible (after 
taking down back rods) ; block on top of both main driving 
boxes and below the cellars, in boxes that are up on blocks ; 
and between the engine deck and the tender draw bar. 

Q. With both back tires on Mogul? 

A. Same answer as for preceding question. 

Q. What should you do when a main tire breaks and conies 
off the wheel on a standard engine? 

A. If a main tire, raise that wheel center a little higher than 
the tire thickness, to allow for settling when blocked up ; take 
out oil cellar so journal would not get cut on its edges ; put a 
block between pedestal brace and journal, to hold wheel center 
clear of rail, and block up over back driving box, so engine 
could not settle or get down to. allow cast-iron wheel center 
to strike the rail. Take considerable strain off the pedestal 
brace by putting a block under spring saddle and on top of 
frame. Taking out this driving spring makes a sure job. 
Take off all other broken or disabled parts ; if rods are in 
good order, leave them up. 



706 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. If it is a back tire? 

A. Block up in the same manner as for main tire, except 
what blocking comes next other journals and boxes. If engine 
is very heavy, it may be necessary to carry part of the weight 
of back end of the engine on tender. This can sometimes be 
done by wedging up under charing block on engine deck and 
over coupling bar; at other times it may be necessary to lay 
a solid tie or short rail on the deck, the end against the fire 
box, extending back into tender. Chain around this tie or 
rail and to the frame at back driving-box pedestal, and block 
up under the end that is on the tender, so engine w r eight will 
be carried on the rail or tie back on tender. This leaves three 
good tires on the rails, and the disabled wheel is away from 
the rail. Run wheel on blocks to raise it clear of rail when 
possible. 

Q. With front tire on Mogul or ten-wheel engine? 

A. Block up under journal of the disabled wheel, same as 
described in previous answer ; in addition, block up to put 
more weight on engine trucks. 

Q. With main tire on Mogul? 

A. Block up under main journal and over back driving 
box. If, with either tire broken on Mogul or ten-wheel engine, 
side rods have to be taken off, it may be necessary to be towed 
in if crank pin of forward wheel does not clear crosshead 
when side rods are uncoupled. Some Mogul and ten-wheel 
engines have the main tires without flanges, others have the 
forward pair "blind," which makes a little difference in keep- 
ing them on the track when blocked up. 

Q. With back tire on Mogul? 

A. Same as for back tire on any other engine, taking off 
all broken parts. To hold flanges of the good tire against the 
rail when running, chain from end of engine frame and deck 
(the step casting is handy) across to corner of tender behind 



ACCIDENTS TO TIRES. 707 

the good tire ; this will hold flanges over and tender will be 
used to hold back end of engine on rail. 

0. With both back tires on Mogul? 

A. Raise both wheel centers up to clear the rail and block 
under journals to hold them up. Arrange to carry part of 
weight of back part of engine on tender, chain back end of 
engine each way to tender frame, so the main wheels will have 
no chance to get off track. Or a shoe or "slipper" having a 
flange on one side can be fastened to the wheel center — a piece 
of old tire will make a good one — and the center blocked 
so it will slide and bring engine in that way. Another way 
is to take out the back wheels, as in the case of a broken axle, 
and put in a car truck, blocking up under engine deck; this 
is a job for the wrecking car. 

0. IVitli back tire of back driver broken off, how do yon 
fix engine so you can back around curves when necessary? 

A. Chain across from step on engine deck on disabled side 
to tender frame on other side or put a block from cab casting 
or chafing iron on deck across where the block can brace 
against tender frame. This will hold flange against the rail. 
Look out when going through frogs, as there is nothing to 
keep the flange from leading into the frog point. 

0. What is the proper zvay to block up a consolidation engine 
for a broken front tire or driving zchcel ; the second and third 
drivers haz'iiig plain tires? 

A. Raise the front wheels clear of the rail by blocking 
between the pedestal braces and driving boxes, after remov- 
ing the front side rods. 

0. Could engine be run ahead in this condition on a curvy 
road? 

A. Xot with safety; the plain tires would be quite likely to 
drop off the rails on a sharp curve. 

0. In case of a broken front tire on a ten-z^heeler, what is 
to be done? 



708 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. If the rods are damaged on that side, remove them, and 
take down the side rods on the good side. Run the wheel up 
on a five-inch wedge, replace the oil cellar with hard block B, 




Fig. 408. Front Driver with Tire Removed. 

fit a block A between this and the binder ; chock up the front 
end of the equalizer nearest the tireless wheel with a block C, 
and go ahead, being sure from time to time that the lame wheel 
still keeps off the rail. 




Fig. 409. Main Driver with Tire Removed. 

Q. What should be done in case of a broken main-driver 
tire on a ten-wheeler or a Mogul? 



ACCIDENTS TO TIRES. 



709 



A. Run the wheel up on a wedge ; with a hard block, 
C, chock the back end of the short equalizer and the front end 
of the back spring; remove the pedestal brace and replace 
the oil cellar with a block A, the grain lengthwise of the 
journal; chock under the box with a block B, and replace the 
pedestal brace. The journals require especial care in run- 
ning in, as they are doing extra work. 




Back Driver with Tire Removed. 



Q. What is to be done for a broken back tire on a ten- 
i^heelcr, where the main wheel is blind? 

A. Run the damaged wheel up on a wedge, replace the oil 
cellar by an oak block A with the grain lengthwise of the 
journal, chock in with another wooden block, B, between box 
and pedestal binder ; chock the back end of the long spring 
well up with an iron block C. Pass a chain from the opposite 
front tender-frame corner, over the drawbar to the cab sup- 
port or jacking beam on the engine, wedging tight. 

Q. What is the programme in case of a broken front driv- 
ing tire on an over-hung eight-zcheeler? 

A. Run the tireless wheel up on a six-inch wedge. Chock 
up the high end of the equalizer, replace the cellars by a 
wooden block, and chock all the space between this block 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 





> 

o 

a 



M 



« 



s 



and the binder with wood. If 
the back driver spring will hold 
her up, you can go ahead. 

0. Suppose this spring is too 
weak? 

A. Run the tireless wheel 
again on .the wedge and chock 
over the back driver box as for 
a broken spring. 

Q. IV hat is the procedure in 
case of an under-hung engine? 

A. The same except that the 
equalizer end is to be chocked 
down. 

Q. What should be done for a 
broken back tire on an eight- 
wheeler? 

A. Take off rods (only to 
lighten weight on the front driv- 
ing axle; keep down water in 
boiler for the same reason), run 
up the tireless wheel (see Fig. 
411) on a wedge W; chock 
(with an iron block) between 
front driving box and frame, 
replace the oil cellar with wood 
blocking B; if necessary dis- 
connect and take out the 
springs. Pass a chain from the 
tail beam at the same corner 
with the tireless wheel through 
over the drawbar to the oppo- 
site tank corner; tighten this 
chain with wedges. 



ACCIDENTS TO TIRES. 711 

Q. Why not sling both back wheels off the rail and put a 
T-rail between the fire-box and the tank, to hold up the 
wheels? 

A. This would be necessary only when the back axle was 
broken between the boxes, and necessitated being towed in 
dead. 

0. Which gives the most trouble — a back or a front tire on 
such an engine? 

A. Back ; because when the back wheels are slung up the 
v center of gravity of the engine comes too far back and over- 
loads the front driving springs, risking their breakage, 

Q. Suppose the front tire is broken? 

A. The pair of wheels on one of which the tire is broken 
should be run on hard wedges or blocks to clear the rail ; 
the oil cellars taken out, wooden blocks placed between the axle 
and pedestal caps, and the front side-rod keys slacked ; then 
the engine should be run slowly. 

Q. What should be done in case of a broken back tire? 

A. Both back side rods should be taken off, the wheels run 

on to hard wedges or blocks to clear the rails, the oil cellars 

. taken out, and wood blocking put between the axle and pedestal 

caps ; the engine run without train to the nearest telegraph 

station where help may be asked from headquarters. 

Q. Hoz^ fast is it safe to run an engine with the back tire 
broken or lost off? 

A. Five or six miles an hour on straight reaches, two and 
a half to three on curves. 

0. What slwuld be done in case of breakage of a forzuard 
tire on a ten-zcheel engine? 

A. The wheel should be jammed up until the axle was level. 
a block put between the pedestal brass and the oil cellar on the 
disabled side, and the train run in without disconnecting any- 
thing". 



712 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. Could a regular train be taken in this way? 
A. Yes. 

Q. Hozv would you get azvay with a Mogul with front 
flanged tires swung up? 

A. As the truck wheels and the back driver flanges would 
guide the engine on a 15-deg. curve, nothing special need be 
done. 

Q. If a back Hanged tire were swung up? 

A. Raise the tireless wheel and hold the opposite one on 
the rail by a chain from the tail beam on the side without 
the tire to the opposite front corner of the tender. 

Q. Does breakage of a tire always necessitate the engine 
being towed in? 

A. No ; the loss of any one tire or of all except one main 
tire will permit the engine being run slowly. 

Q. What is to be done for a broken engine-truck tire? 

A. Jack up the front end, replace the cellar of the box near- 
est the broken tire with a block, raise the truck corner so as 
to clear the rail about five inches with the tireless wheel, and 
chain it to the main frame above and also across ; then run 
slowly on three truck wheels. 

Q. What will be the effect if one side of the engine is lower 
than the other? 

A. The wheel flanges will cut on the low side. 

Q. Suppose that the driving axles are not square with the 
cylinders, or not parallel with each other, what will be the) 
effect? 

A. The wheel that is too far -back will cut its flanges. 

Q. Of what are cut truck flanges a sign? 

A. That the engine is not centered with the truck. 

Q. If the engine is not in the center of the truck, as shown 
by cut truck flanges, which way should it be moved? 

A. Toward that side of the truck which is cutting. 



ACCIDENTS TO TIRES. 713 

Q. What will be the effect if the engine is not in the center 
of the truck? 

A. The truck-wheel flanges will cut, and the front driving- 
wheel flanges may cut also, on the opposite side to the truck- 
wheel flanges. 

Q. Illicit should be done in case of a broken truck-wheel 
flange? 

A. The engine should be run very slowly if necessary to 
run at all. 

Q. If an engine cuts her truck flanges on one side, what 
could be the cause? 

A. (i) Driving-wheel axles nearer on the cutting side than 
on the other, tending to drive the engine in a circle, even on 
a straight track; (2) truck axles in same condition; (3) so- 
called center casting under the saddle not actually central, 
but a little toward the cutting side ; (4) frames in front of 
the forward jaws a little bent toward the cutting side. 

Q. In case of a broken chilled truck flange, where the tread 
is uninjured, what is to be done? 

A. Chain the corner of the truck next the broken wheel to 
the opposite engine frame, thus crowding the good flanges of 
the opposite wheels against the rail and keeping the broken 
one away. 

Q. Suppose you have no chain? 

A. That would be my fault; but if I had none, I would 
chock the truck over with a wooden block so as to crowd the 
broken flange away from the rail. 

Q. What should be done in case of a broken tender-truck 
wheel flange? 

A. The same as for a broken engine-truck wheel flange. 

Q. Suppose part of the tread is broken out with the flange 
of an engine or tender-truck wheel, what is to be done? 

A. Bring the good part of the tread on the rail, stick a bar 



714 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

through the wheels so that it cannot turn, and skid in to a 
siding. 

Q. Suppose it is a plate wheel? 

A. Bring the break uppermost and block in between that 
and the frame. 

Q. Suppose the wheels are steel tired and you wish to save 
the good one from the skidding action? 

A. Raise the truck corner until the crippled wheel clears 
the rail; block up under its journal, against the pedestal brace; 
chain the truck corner up to the frame so as to keep the good 
wheel on the rail, as for a broken driver tire. 

Q. In what cases could this not be carried out? 

A. With some makes of ten-wheelers, where the valve rod, 
and rocker arm would come in the way. 

Q. Suppose the truck wheel zvere broken off the axle out- 
side the box? 

. A. That corner of the truck could be chained up and the 
weight taken by the other three wheels. 

Q. What can be done in the way of skidding on a tie? 

A. Notch a hardwood tie for the wheels and let them run 
up thereon and lock fast; run to a siding. 

Q. Which wheels are the more easily handled this way, and 
why? 

A. The front, as the binders interfere with the rear wheels. 

Q. Suppose the rear tender-truck wheels are ruined? 

A. Jack up the tender, get out the wreckage, roll the good 
wheels under the rear truck end, put two ties across the axle 
lengthwise of the tender, next the wheels, and two others 
crosswise of these under the frame to keep the latter clear of 
the wheels. 

Q. Suppose one truck axle or journal breaks without rip- 
ping up the trucks? 

A. (i) Remove the wreckage, raise the tender, block up 



ACCIDENTS TO SPRINGS AND HANGERS, 



715 



over the oil-box tops on the good axle ; sling the crippled truck 
corner to a tie across the tender top, Or (2) if a standard 
freight-car truck will fit, use it and leave the car there. 

0. What should be done in ease of breakage of a tender 
wheel? 

A. A tie or a piece of rail should be placed across the tender 
apron to keep the wheel from turning, with blocking between 
it and the tender body ; the broken truck should be chained to 
the tie at both ends of the latter, and the train should be 




Fig. 412. Broken Tender Wheel. 

run in to the nearest telegraph station with that pair of 
wheels sliding — the broken part of the wheel being of course 
away from the rail. (Fig. 412.) 



ACCIDENTS TO SPRINGS AND SPRING HANGERS. 

0. What is the proper procedure with a broken front driver 
spring on an eight-wheeler with springs above the boxes? 

A. Run the front wheel up on a four-inch wedge, chock up 
the front equalizer end, come off the wedge, and if you see 
that the back spring will not carry her, run up the back wheel, 



716 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



and chock between front driver box and frame. (Fig. 413.) 
Q. What is to be done with a broken back-driver spring or 

spring hanger on an eight-wheeler with springs above the 

boxes? 

A. Run the back driver up on a four-inch wedge, pry up 

the back end of the equalizer, and block it high up ; run the 

front driver up on the wedge and chock between rear driver 

box and frame ; slack up a bit on the back wedges and run in 

with regard to hot boxes. 






Ap p_ £1-^ 



r* 

I I 
I I 




Fig* 413. Broken Springs. 



Q. Can a broken back spring or hanger always be handled 
so? 

A. Usually, although there are times when the reverse lever 
cannot be moved. In such a case I would have to raise the 
engine with jacks. 

Q. Which driver springs usually give the most trouble when 
broken? 

A. The back ones are more difficult to get at, but less likely 
to cause mischief ; therefore they may often be left in place. 

Q. When blocking up for a broken driver spring, should 
both ends of the axle be raised? 

A. Not on a standard engine. 

Q. Suppose a spring partly gives out, what is to be done to 
frovide against further damage? 



ACCIDENTS TO SPRINGS AND HANGERS. 717 

A. Tie a large nut or something like that under that end 
of the equalizer nearest the cracked spring, leaving a little 
space, so that ordinarily the nut will not jam, but on a jolty 
place the nut, instead of the spring, will get the blow. 

0. Which driving springs are the hardest to get out when 
broken? 

A. The back ones, usually. 

Q. What is the course with a broken four-wheel engine- 

truck spring? 

A. Take out the equalizer and block the frame above the 
boxes with something yielding, as wood, and in some cases it 
may be necessary to put in a cross tie to take the weight which 
the spring had held. Blocks can be placed between the equali- 
zers and the center plate. 

If the break is bad, take out the spring and run in with 
the frames on the boxes, unless the pilot is too low. If, how- 
ever, this latter is the case, jack up the end of the truck frame 
and chock between box and frame, front and back. 

0. Why put the blocking on the equalizers? Why not over 
the axle blocks? 

A. To avoid springing the frame by the increased leverage. 

Q. What slwuld be done in the case of the breakage of a 
pony-truck spring? 

A. The engine jacked up, and blocking put between the 
frame and oil box. 

0. Suppose you have no small jack? 

A. Lift the front end off the truck by a long jack under 
the buffer beam ; pry the truck frame up from the boxes and 
chock. 

0. What makes a good chock i)i this case? 

A. A piece of car-spring rubber between two wooden 
boards. 

0. Name a cause of broken spring hangers? 



718 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. The hanger being rusted to the upper pin, so that it can- 
not vibrate laterally as the distance L between centers length- 
ens and shortens. (See Fig. 414.) 

Q. What should be done in case of a broken spring hanger? 

A. It should be removed, and if there is a spare one the 




Fig. 414. Broken Spring Hanger. 



latter should be replaced in its stead ; the end of the spring 
being held by the new hanger. 

Q. How can this operation be performed? 

A. By packing the engine up at the back under the foot 
board to take off the weight until the new hanger is in- 
serted. 

Q. Suppose that there is no spare hanger, what should be 
used? 

A. A chain, if there is one handy. (Fig. 415.) 

Q. Suppose neither hanger nor chain is available, what 
should be done? 

A. The equalizer should be raised about level by a block 
of wood or of copper, jacks being used under the foot board. 

Q. Suppose that in this case the engine has far to go, what 
special precaution should be taken? 

A. To ease the other spring by putting a block of wood 



ACCIDENTS TO SPRINGS AND HANGERS. 719 

between the driving boxes and the frame, and over the wheel 
where the hanger is broken. 

Q. Where the spring rigging is underneath the frame, how 
may it be handled in case of breakage of a spring hanger? 

A. As where the spring rigging is above the frame, except 
that it may be better to put a wedge or its equivalent under 
the lower end of the equalizing bar, and move the engine 




Fig 415. Broken Spring Hanger. 

back, thus raising the bar ; then it may be chained fast to the 
frame. 

Q. What size and kind of zvedges would be necessary to run 
drivers on in case of a broken spring or hanger? 

A. Oak, about four inches square and a yard long, tapered 



720 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



down to nothing, and part of the thick end left parallel for 
the wheel to rest on. 

Q. Where would you get these oak wedges? 

A. I should carry them with me to use in case of accident. 

Q. Should any special precaution be taken in fitting in the 
block of wood between the oil cellar and the pedestal brass in 
raising the wheel center clear of the track? 

A. Yes, if the engine has far to go, the block should be 
shaped out underneath to prevent the axle from resting on 
the thin edges of the oil box. 

Q. Why should an engine be raised at the back end in case 
a spring, a hanger, or an equalizer is broken? 

A. To take weight off the driving-axle springs, and to keep 
the engine level so as not to uncover one part of the boiler or 
leave the other with too much water. 

Q. What makes the best blocking for raising an engine in 
case of a broken spring, hanger, or equalizer? 

A. Wood, by reason of its elasticity, and because it will stay 
in place better than iron. 



Front 




Fig. 416. Broken Driver Box. 

Q. What precaution should be taken in blocking up? 

A. Not to let the axle run on the cellar, as that would ruin 
one, and perhaps both. 

Q. Suppose in a ten-wheeler with such a mixed spring 
arrangement as is shown in Fig. 416 the main driver box 



ACCIDENTS TO SPRINGS AND HANGERS. 



721 



breaks on both sides and the brass comes dozen into the cellar, 
what is to be done? 

A. Wedge up the lame wheel as high as possible, put a liner 
behind the box wedge at the top, and wedge up hard to pinch 
the box top and keep it off the journal; take out the pedestal 
binder and remove the cellar and box fragments ; from a tie 
saw a block B large enough to fill the space between the 
binder and the journal ; after this is notched for the latter put 




Fig. 417. Blocked-up Wheel. 



in the notch a bar of hard soap as a lubricant. Chock up the 
front end of the back spring and the back end of the front 
equalizer by blocks D and A, and run the wheel off the 
wedge. 

Q. If driving box or brass breaks so it is cutting the axle 
badly, zehat can you do to relieve it/ 

A. Relieve it of some of its weight by a wedge, and block- 
ing between the spring saddle and the frame. See Fig. 417. 



122 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

ACCIDENTS TO THE TRUCKS. 

O. What should be done in case of breakage of the center 
pin of a pony truck, at the front of the long equalizer? 

A. The engine should be jacked up at the front, and the 
cross equalizer at the back of the long equalizer blocked down, 
enough to keep the front end from striking the pony axle, 
so that the wheel would clear the rail, and chained at that 
hight. 

Q. In case of this accident would you run in with full train 
or only part? 

A. With full train. 

0. With broken engine-truck center-pin on a Mogul, what 
is to be done? 

A. Jack up the front end of the engine and that of the long 
equalizer; put a car brass between the equalizer end and the 
truck-wheel axle, and run home slowly. 

Q. Hozv would you remove the truck of a Mogul engine on 
the road? 

A. By first taking off the radius bar, blocking up the front 
high enough to get out the center pin, then removing the 
truck. 

Q. How would you block the equalizer? 

A. That depends on the build of the engine. In some cases 
it would need no blocking; as, for instance, where the rear end 
would strike the boiler before the front end came down. 
Otherwise it should be blocked at the back, or else a chain 
passed up from its front end over the frame and round the 
center pin. 

0. Hozv would you remove the truck of a consolidation 
engine? 

A. In the same way as for a Mogul. 

Q. What should be done in case of a broken four-wheel 
engine-truck frame? 



ACCIDENTS TO TRUCKS. 723 

A. That depends on the kind of break. If between bolster 
and equalizer springs, the engine may be run with it in place ; 
being jacked up to permit running a beam or piece of rail 
across, lying on the equalizers and under the center plate. 

Q. What should be done to repair a broken truck-frame on 
the road, where repair is necessary? 

A. It may sometimes be mended with a "fish splice" made 
of a piece of rail or a wooden beam, chained to the adjacent 
parts. 

Q. In case the center pin of a pony truck breaks, what 
should be done? 

A. The front end of the engine jacked up to take all load 
from the equalizer, the back end of the latter blocked down by 
blocks between it and a beam through the frames, to keep its 
front end from striking the axle ; the engine then run slowly 
(naturally after taking out the jacks) tc prevent its leaving 
the rails. 

Q. Why wauld there be special danger of leaving the rails? 

A. Because the front truck would have no load on it. 

Q. In case of the breakage of a center casting of a four- 
wheel engine truck, what is advisable? 

A. To block it with timber or rail over the equalizers. 

Q. In the case of a pony truck? 

A. To block it between the truck-frame top and the engine 
frame. 

0. Is the engine in these last two cases safe to run at high 
speed? 

A. Xo ; because the truck will not swing. 

Q. What should be done in case the transom of a four-wheel 
engine truck breaks? 

A. Generally the bolster can be chained; if the truck is 
rigid, a piece of timber or rail may be laid across the equalizers 
to take the load. 



724 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What can be done with a broken back truck wheel? 
A. Usually it may be chained to a rail or a cross tie across 
the engine frame. 

Q. In case of broken front truck wheels, what should be 
done on the first opportunity, after temporarily attending to 
them? 

A. Turn the truck around so as to give a good pair of lead- 
ing wheels. 

0. How may a broken tender wheel or tender axle be at- 
tended to? 

A. By chaining up to a rail or a cross tie placed across the 
tender top. 

Q. In case of a ten-wheeler with totally disabled truck, what 
is to be done? 

A. If the front and back drivers are flanged, block between 
the top of the front driving-boxes and the frame. 

Q. In case of a consolidation or Mogul? 
A. Block down the end equalizer. 

Q. Suppose the front tire is "blind," how can the engine be 
guided? 

A. Usually by chaining the front end short to the rear of the 
tender or to a car having its truck near the end, so as to pre- 
vent the "muley" wheels from swinging clear of the rails. 

ACCIDENTS TO BRASSES, WEDGES, AND BOLTS. 

Q. Will an engine pound if the pedestal bolts are loose? 

A. Yes. With an engine that has the brace bolted to a hook 
over the bottom of jaws, if bolts work loose, it will let down 
the brace and wedge. If there is a large bolt from one jaw 
to the other, the wedge cannot drop, as it is held up by the 
thimble on the pedestal bolt between the jaws; but the jaws 
will spread apart if the bolt gets loose, and let the box pound. 



ACCIDENTS TO BRASSES, WEDGES AND BOLTS. 725 

Q. Where wedge bolts are broken, how do yon keep the 

wedge in position? 

A. If there is a jam nut or wedge bolt on top of pedestal- 
brace, and bolt breaks on top of this nut, it can be spliced 
by running the nut up over the break and putting between 
it and the brace a washer equal to half the thickness of nut, 
thus having half the nut each side of break; this will .not 
prevent the wedge going either up or down. Or a nut of the 
right size between the wedge and brace and tied with wire 
will hold the wedge from coming down. 

0. What is to be done for a broken main pedestal bolt or 
binder? 

A. (i) Replace the broken piece with the corresponding 
one from the back jaw. Or (2) if it is a broken bolt and the 
piece is long enough, batter a head on it and use it in the back 
jaw with one nut instead of two. 

Q. Suppose the binder comes off and both wedges come out, 
what is to be done? 

A. Make wooden wedges, put the engine on center and 
drive in the wedges ; make a timber binder. 

Q. If you broke a driving box and the brass turned down 
into the cellar, what would you do? 

A. Run that wheel on a thick wedge and block, up or down, 
as the case would demand, the ends of spring and equalizer 
nearest that box ; put a liner between wedge and box, set up 
the wedge, to hold the box off the journal, uncouple the spring 
hangers near that box, and run her off the wedge. 

Q. Is that the only way for holding the box up off the 
journal? 

A. No. I could fit iron blocks between box and pedestal 
brace. 

Q. Would you take down the main rod in this case? 
A. Not if the engine was to 2:0 on lisrht. 



726 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What is the simplest way to handle heavy driving 
boxes? 

A. By a plank (blocked up to the right hight and a two-inch 
pipe as a roller, as shown in Figs. 418 and 419). 

Q. If an engine-truck brass became burned out and no other 
brass zvas available, what should be done? 

A. Raise the box off the journal, cut a piece of hard w r ood 
to put in place of the brass, run this as far as it will go and 
renew it as often as necessary; stop often to insure absolute 




Fig. 418- Handling Driving Boxes. Fig. 419. Handling Driving Boxes. 



safety. Pack the cellar the same as though a proper brass were 
on the journal; pour a bucket of water over the whole thing at 
every stop. 

Q. How zvould you replace an engine-truck brass?. 

A. Take out cellar, jack up the truck box with a pony jack 
until brass will slide out along axle. Put in a new one, let down 
the box, pack the cellar and replace it. With a heavy engine, 
lift front end with big jacks, to take part of the strain off the 
pony jack. 

Q. How can you take out a tender-truck brass and replace 
it with a new one? 

A. By taking off the oil-box cover, and all the packing, 
jacking up the box, removing the wedge or step and the brass, 
putting in the new brass, then the wedge or step on top there- 
of ; next taking out the jack and re-packing the box. 

Q. When a brass does not wear an even thickness at both 
ends, what is apt to happen? 



ACCIDENTS TO BRASSES, WEDGES AND BOLTS. 727 

A. It is apt to run hot, by reason of one end getting more 
weight than the other. 

Q. Should driving and truck boxes be cooled with water 
when they run hot? 

A. Yes ; it is advisable to pipe, for that purpose, from the 
injector discharge to all axle bearings, each having an inde- 
pendent valve. 

Q. What is the best place to apply the water? 
A. In the cellar. 

Q. What are the principal causes of hot journals and broken 
boxes? 

A. (i) Boxes working at bottom or top, (2) poor bearings 
between box and wedge or shoe. 

Q. How can rocking be detected? 

A. By putting the engine on the quarter on the suspected 
side, blocking the wheels on the opposite side, and reversing a 
few times. 

Q. Hozv can you tell whether a box bears fully and evenly 
on the shoe or wedge? 

A. Tighten the wedge, put the engine on the quarter, get 
the fireman to reverse a few times with open throttle, and 
watch the box from inside and outside. 

Q. What is the result of broken wedge bolts? 

A. The wedge being caught by the box and pulled up too 
high and held there, causing sticking and heating of the box. 

Q. Suppose the zvedge bolt is broken in the thread, what is 
to be tried? 

A. Splicing it with a nut, blocking up under the wedge, and 
pulling down on the nut under the pedestal brace. 

Q. When wedge bolts are broken irretrievably, how do you 
keep the zvedge in position? 

A. With a suitable chock or block between the pedestal 
and the wedge bottom, and one above the wedge. 



728 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. In what does the importance of correct laying off of 
shoes and wedges consist? 

A. In the fact that it lessens liability of breaking crank 
pins and cutting tires, and saves trouble with rod and driving 
brasses. 

Q. What guiding methods are used in getting a square line 
on the frames in laying off shoes and wedges? 

A. (i) The use of the fish-tail tram; (2) the use of the 
three-point tram; (3) lining one cylinder; (4) lining both 
cylinders. 

Q. Of these which is preferable? 

A. The last, which keeps the main axle square with both 
cylinders. 

Q. How may wedges be adjusted? 

A. The engine may be placed at half stroke on one side, 
the wheels on the other side blocked, steam put on, and the 
box driven from the wedges ; then the latter may be put up 
tight, their hight scribed on the pedestal, and they may then 
be slacked back about % inch. 

O. What is the tendency of driving boxes with worn half- 
round brasses? 

A. To close at the bottom. 

Q. Hozv may this be prevented? 

A. To some extent by closing the jaws at the bottom. 

Q. What new trouble does this bring? 

A. It increases wear, and may cause the box to catch in 
rough riding. 

BRAKE ACCIDENTS. 

Q. What should be done in case the air pump gives out? 
A. The pipe leading from it to the reservoir should be 
taken out and the pump tried without it. 

Q. Suppose that after the pipe has been taken out between 



ACCIDENTS TO BRAKES. 729 

the air pump and the reservoir the pump will not work; of 
what is that a sign? 

A. That something is wrong with the steam valve, or with 
the ports and passage connected therewith. 

Q. Suppose that the air pump works with the air pipe taken 
down, but does not with it in place, of what is that apt to be 
a sign? 

A. That the pipe or its check valve is choked, as with ice 
or gum. 

Q. In case the air pump will not work in cold zceather, what 
should be the -first thing to be done? 

A. To run a lighted torch along the air pipe and on the 
check chamber, and to examine the receiving screen to see that 
it is free from snow or ice. 

Q. Suppose that air escapes from a brake cylinder in freez- 
ing zveather, by what may that be caused? 
A. By frozen packing. 

Q. Suppose that in freezing weather air escapes from a 
brake cylinder and the brakes fail to act, of what may that be 
a sign? 

A. That there is ice in the triple valve. 

Q. Suppose that the air pump works well in only one direc- 
tion, of what is that a sign? 

A. That one of the air valves is choked, cocked, or other- 
wise crippled. 

Q. Suppose that the air pump works well both ways, but 
fails to produce the proper effect upon the gage, what does 
that show? 

A. That there is an air leak. 

Q. Suppose that you cannot readily locate the air leak, what 
should be done? 

A. The air should be locked in the pipe, and if it does not 



730 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

come from the governor exhaust pipe, there may be a crack 
in the diaphragm. 

0. What is the trouble with an air pump when it "short- 
strokes' or -flutters? 

A. The reversing rod is loose where it passes through the 
reversing-valve bush, and also in the top cap, and there is not 
friction enough to hold the valve and rod from dropping; 
the reversing rod may be sprung so that it strikes the side of 
the hollow piston hard enough to push the rod and valve up 
or down ; or the little port leading top of reversing rod may 
be stopped, and the steam cannot get there to balance it while 
piston is on the down stroke. 

Q. When the brake releases {through the exhaust port) 
with light reduction of from 5 to 10 pounds, but stays on with 
a 20-pound reduction, zvhat is the matter? 

A. The graduating valve leaks. 

Q. When driver brake releases on emergency application 
with light engine, what is wrong? 

A. Engineman's valve handle is not in full emergency posi- 
tion. 

Q. Should the Westinghouse rule of 20 pounds reduction 
for full brake application always be followed? 

A. No. If packing leathers in brake cylinders leak, further 
reduction will supply the loss as long as there is any air left 
in auxiliary reservoir. But it is a question whether there is 
enough benefit from further reduction to pay the tax on the 
pump in restoring train pipe pressure for release. Of course, 
in case of emergency you leave the engineer's valve in full 
emergency position and the port is open between auxiliary 
reservoir and brake cylinder until released. 

Q. Why is rapid working of the air-pump injurious? 

A. Because the pump is apt to pound and get hot, then 



COLLISIONS. 731 

stand still and get water in it. If it will supply the system 
at all, it will do it at slow regular speed. 

Q. What is generally the cause of the air-pump getting hot 
and burning out the packing? 

A. Compression valves not working right. 

Q. How can a badly-gummed air-pump be cleaned? 

A. With lye and hot w^ater, used with a swab outside, let 
run in or sucked in at both ends, for the inside ; the main- 
reservoir drain cock opened, hot w 7 ater poured through to 
wash out the lye, then dynamo oil in liberal quantity used. 

COLLISIONS. 

Q. What class of collisions occur most frequently? 
A. Rear-end. 

Q. Where a head-to-head collision is imminent, what is to 
be done with a fast-running train if it has continuous brakes? 

A. Throttle to, all brakes on, sand-valves open ; then look 
out for "number one." 

Q. Why not reverse? 

A. Because the wheels would only slide. 

Q. What measures are to be adopted with a freight train to 
avoid a head-to-head collision? 

A. Whistle for train brakes and reverse. Where there is a 
driver-brake the wheels must be watched, and as soon as they 
slip the brake let off and the cylinder-cocks opened. 

Q, What is the object of this precaution? 

A. To prevent tire-flatting. 

0. At thirty miles an hour, how far will a train go during 
the time of closing throttle, putting on brake, and opening the 
sand -valves? 

A. If the retardation did not commence until all these 
operations had been performed, nearly five hundred feet, as 



732 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

that speed corresponds to forty-four feet a second, and ten 
seconds is none too much time. 



DERAILMENT. 

Q. What are the principal causes of engine derailment? 
A. Passing switch-ends, taking a curve too suddenly, jump- 
ing a bad track, broken flange, striking an obstruction. 

Q. Horn is a derailed engine to be put on the track again? 

A. By hauling or pushing from another engine, sometimes ; 
again, by jacking up and working back over planks or regular 
wrecking-frogs. 

Q. In jacking up, what precautions should be taken? 

A. The front end should come first. The axle-boxes should 
be blocked down in the jaws, to save unnecessary jacking; 
every inch made in jacking should be saved by plank wedged 
under the wheels, as safeguard against slipping off the jacks. 

Q. In jacking up, how about the truck? 

A. The engine front being jacked up high enough, the 
truck should be pried up with rails as levers and chocked in 
place by planks and wedges under the wheels. 

Q. When the truck stands askew of the track, how is it to 
be brought in line? 

A. By chains or ropes, and tackle-blocks, and rails as 
levers. 

Q. How may running the engine back on the track some- 
times be facilitated? 

A. By loosening two rails; swerving them aside so as to 
make a sort of switch, spiking them in the new position, and 
hauling, shoving or running the engine on. This is usually 
more feasible where the rails do not "stagger" or "break 
joint." 

0. In the use of wrecking-frogs, what precaution should be 
taken? 



DERAILMENT. 733 

A. To use wooden filling-pieces between the ties to keep the 
wheels from sinking between them should they slip off the 
frogs. 

Q. In case it is necessary to jack up an engine to get it on 
the track again, what precaution should be taken: 9 

A. To take down the rods to prevent their being sprung. 

0. What is usually the best direction in which to get a 
derailed engine back on the track? 

A. Retracing the line along which it came. 

Q. If your engine zi'as off the track and listed badly to one 
side, what would you look out for? 

A. Be very careful that there was water enough in the 
boiler, so that no portion thereof would be damaged by the 
fire. 

Q. If you had any doubts, what would you do? 

A Get the fire out as soon as possible. 

JACKING UP, ETC. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of wooden wedges as com- 
pared with jacks? 

A. When the engine cannot move they are useless. 

Q. Hon 1 can the engine be moved if the lever is cramped, 
as by a broken driver-spring hanger? 

A. By taking out the front reach-rod pin, thus dropping the 
links. 

Q. How can a tender truck be lifted on one corner without 
a jack? 

A. By cutting the engine loose, running ahead, putting a 
six-foot wedge, made from a tie, under the tank corner, so 
that backing the engine against the timber will cant the tank. 

Q. What hardihood blocks should there be on the engine to 
use in case of breakdown? 

A. A set of crosshead blocks for each side of the engine, 



734 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

two blocks of straight-grained hardwood that can be split to 
proper size for blocking under driving-axles or over engine 
truck equalizers with broken truck-springs (or two iron blocks 
for this purpose), suitable wedges or blocks 4 inches x 4 inches 
at the large end for running driving-wheels upon in case of 
broken springs, tire, etc. 

Q. Where is the weight carried whtn blocked up over the 
forward driving-box? 

A. The same answer as in the preceding case, on a good 
track. 

Q. When blocked up over the back driving-box? 

A. Over that box. 

GETTING TOWED IN. 

Q. What should be done in case the engine is to be tovucd 
backwards, having no other accident but a plug blow out of 
the fire-box? 

A. The lever should be put in the back motion and about 
every five or six miles the valves and cylinders should be oiled 
up liberally. 

Q. Why not disconnect the engine? 

A. Absolutely a waste of time and money, although on 
come roads a cast-iron rule for all accidents requires towing. 
If however there is plenty of oil, and especially engine oil, 
and it is not freezing, valves and cylinders can be lubricated 
through the steam-chest oil-plugs ; hence disconnecting would 
be necessary. 

Q. Why " engine oil"? 

A. Because for cold surfaces it is a better lubricant than 

cylinder oil. 

0. Why "if it is not freezing'? 

A. Because water in the passages might freeze and prevent 
the flow of the oil. 



ACCIDENTS IN GENERAL. 735 

Q. What precaution is, however, to be taken when one 
locomotive is to be towed by another? 

A. To take down the main rods, disconnect the valve-rods 
and tie them to clear the rocker-arms, and put all liners in 
their respective straps ; besides the special precautions which 
should be taken in case of any accident in freezing weather 
when the fire is drawn. 

Q. Which are the more easy to get home with in case of 
accidents that do not entail picking the engine out of the ditch: 
fight-wheelers, or moguls and consolidations? 

A. The latter, because they have more wheels, and there is 
also proportionately less weight on the trucks. 

Q. What is your idea about the disgrace of being tozved in? 

A. It is an old one, which seldom holds good on important 
lines. The main thing is to get the road open. It might be 
cheaper even to ditch the engine than to block the line. 

GENERAL. 

Q. What is your first duty after a breakdown, and what 
should be done next in order? 

A. After getting stopped, to see that I am protected in 
both directions from approaching trains, both for my own 
safety and for theirs ; with some breakdowns, kill the fire. 
Next locate the damage, to see if any outside help will be 
needed, and the kind needed, so that it can be sent for at once, 
or a report made of the parts disabled and the probable time 
before the engine can proceed with the train. Xext get the 
engine ready to move as soon as possible. 

Q. Can all four-zvheeled szi'itch engines be run with all 
side rods dozvn? 

A. Yes ; but that necessitates cutting off or "lining out" the 
inside end of the key that holds the piston-rod in the cross- 
head. 

Q. Why? 



786 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. Otherwise the forward crank-pin would strike the cross- 
head key. 

Q. Under what circumstances in taking dozvn a main rod 
would it be allowable to leave a steam-port open? 

A. Where only the back main-rod end was taken down, so 
that the weight of the rod would help the steam in the back 
port to hold the crosshead and piston on the forward center. 

Q. How far may an engine be run disconnected on one side, 
without cutting the cylinder so as to require reboring? 

A. Fifty to a hundred miles if the lubrication is good and 
all properly done. 

ADJUSTMENT.* 

Q. How would you adjust the link motion of your engine? 

A. I would not do it, because that is not my duty. I would 

report at the round house anything wrong about it. 

Q. What then are your duties about the engine? 

A. To run it, adjust the wedges, keep the rods keyed up, if 
they had not solid bushings"; and attend to the stuffing-box 
packings, and to the headlight. 

Q. In what position should an engine be put in order to key 
side-rods? 

A. On its parallel center, because then the crank-pins will 
be held at the proper distance apart by the driving-axles being 
held by their boxes. Otherwise their length might be made 
greater or less than the distance between wheel-centers. 

Q. What exception to this rule? 

A. In adjusting the front end of the main-rod, the pin 
should be on a quarter, as the crosshead pin is often worn 
thinner front and back. 

Q. What might take place if side rods zvere keyed zvith the 
pins on the top quarter? 

* See also Valve Setting. 



ENGINE ADJUSTMENTS. 737 

A. The wheels might be slipped by the keying. 

Q. Can rods be keyed too long or too short on the parallel 
centers? 

A. Yes, if the pins or the axles are bent, or the pin much 
worn out all around, or not properly "quartered" as regards 
the pins on the other side of the engine. 

Q. Why commence to line or key parallel rods at the main 
pin? 

A. The liners can be better divided each side of the pin. 

Q. When keying the main-pin brasses, what should be done 
with the others? 

A. All of them should be loose. 

Q. Which pins on the engine get the most strain? * 

A. The crosshead pins, because they carry the strain to, or 
receive it from, all the others ; strain that is properly divided 
among all the other pins on the side, is borne by the cross- 
head pin alone. 

0. With which brass should keying up commence? 

A. That depends on the number of keys to a brass, and on 
the number and arrangement of the rods. 

0. If one pair of parallel rod brasses is Hied, what should 
be done with the other? « 

A. It should be filed also. 

Q. How may you be certain that both pairs of brasses are 
filed alike? 

A. By calipering them between the edges that are to be filed 
and the back of the brass ; testing the filed edges from time 
to time on a flat surface to see that they are dead flat. 

Q. Do brasses always need filing when they are knocking? 

A. No; sometimes they do not fit the strap, and require 
only a thin liner between them and the strap. 

Q. Should a brass be filed enough to make it possible to 
pinch the pin when keyed tip? 



738 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. No. 

Q. What should be done in case this is done through acci- 
dent or carelessness ? 

A. Liners should be put between their formerly abutting 
edges. 

Q. Which is better to use betzveen edges of brasses; one 
thick liner, or tzvo or more thin ones? 
A. One thick one. 

Q. If it require a thick and a thin liner betzveen a brass and 
a key, which one should be next the key? 
A. The thick one. 

Q. Is it always necessary to Hie rod-bearings that have been 
running zvell and suddenly commence heating? 

A. No; it is usually better to clean and oil them well. 

Q. What precaution is necessary in lining connecting-rod 
brasses? 

A. To be sure, from marks on the guides, that there is 
proper clearance between the piston and the cylinder heads, 
at each end of the cylinder. 

Q. What should be done in lining side-rod brasses of a 
four-zvheel-connected engine? 

A. The engine should be put on a straight level track, with 
all the centers of the axles and those of the crank-pins in the 
same straight line; beginning at the main pin, driving the 
liners so as to give the same thickness of brass and liners 
each side of the pin ; put up that end of the rod, draw the 
bolts solid and adjust the key; block up the back end of the 
rod level with the back upon entering the front brass, and put 
liners in the space between the rod end and the brass ; put on 
the back strap with the brass, put in the bolts and draw them 
solid, and key up the back brasses. 

Q. What is the order of procedure in lining parallel-rod 
brasses on a six-zvheel-connectcd engine? 



1NGINE ADJUSTMENTS. 7S9 

A. Put the engine at its parallel center on a straight and 
level track ; beginning at the -main pin, as for a four-wheel 
connected engine, then do the front end, and last of all the 
back brasses. 

Q. Is there any occasion to tram pin-centers? 

A. No; if the axle centers are in tram and the engine is 
placed on the parallel centers, the pins will come right, unless 
either they or the axles are bent. 

Q. What is the "parallel center'? 

A. That position of an engine in which all the axle centers 
and all the pin centers are in the same straight line. 

Q. How can you find the exact engine center? 

A. Get the crosshead about % inch from stroke end; make 
a mark on it and one on the guides to correspond ; make a 
mark on the inside of the main driving-wheel tire, arid one 
about 13 to 15 inches from it on the main wheel-case; set a 
pair of dividers to the distance between the wheel-mark and 
the wheel-case mark; move the engine ahead until the cross- 
head has gone to the nearest stroke-end, and come back until 
the scribe marks on crosshead and guide are in line again ; 
then with one point of the dividers on the wheel-case mark 
step off the same distance as before to the tire ; make a mark 
at this second point ; with another pair of dividers find on 
the tire a point just mid- way between the two other marks; 
move the engine until this middle tire mark is the same dis- 
tance from the wheel-case mark as the other two were. When 
the engine is in this position it will be on one of the centers, 
and special marks should be made on the crosshead and guides 
to enable these points to be found again. 

Q. What is a good way to make a distinction between trial 
marks made in finding centers, etc., and permanent marks? 

A. It will be well to make the temporary marks just plain 
scratches or chisel marks, thus: | (representing a line and line 



740 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

mark before the edges have been moved) and the permanent 
ones thus : * As regards prick-punch marks : a permanent one 
may have a ring made around it or two light cross marks 
made through it, to distinguish it from a temporary one. 

Q. Should the wedges be setup when the engine is hot or 
when cold? 

A. When hot. 

Q. How tightly should zvedges be adjusted? 

A. So tightly as to prevent thumping but freely enough to 
let the box move up and down in the pedestals. 

Q. How can the desired tightness of wedges be obtained? 

A. By moving them up tight and then bringing them down 
jjust enough to take off the side pressure ; say yi inch. 

Q. What will be the effect of keying a crosshead pin too 
tight? 

A. There is danger of loosening the pin or breaking the 
crosshead. 

Q. At what points on a crosshead pin and brasses does the 
greatest wear come? 

A. When the engine is on the front and back centers. 

Q. Why is not this the case zvith the crank-pins also? 

A. Because their brasses revolve and the wear is thus 
equalized. 

Q. In what position of the engine should a crosshead pin be 
keyed? 

A. Usually when the crank-pin is down, because it might 
be keyed too tight, as it might be if keyed with the engine on 
its centers. 

Q. Why not key it zvhen the crank-pin was up? 

A. Because it is generally easier to get at it with the crank- 
pin down. 

Q. In adjusting zvedges, where should the cranks be? 

A. The pins should be up on the side that is being ad- 



INSPECTION AND REPAIRS. 741 

justed, because if they were down, and the side rods were not 
of the right length, the driving-boxes might not properly press 
against the shoes. The work of adjusting is much easier with 
the pins up than with them down. 

INSPECTION, REPAIRS, ETC. 

Q. What can be said of inspection of the engine on the part 
of the engine-runner f 

A. It is advisable and necessary. It gives him more confi- 
dence at high speeds, prolongs the life of the engine, and is 
a great safeguard to runner, crew and passenger. 

Q. When and where should inspection be made? 
A. After each trip, as the machine is over the pit. 

Q. What is the first part to be inspected? 

A. The truck and connections, to be sure that no bolts, 
nuts, or screws are missing and the oil-box packing is all 
right ; then pilot-braces, center-castings, and all their connec- 
tions. 

Q. What next? 

A. Passing rearwards, in the pit, the motion, to see that the 
eccentric set-screws, keys, and straps are right; no bolts 
missing, no oil-ways clogged. Then the links. 

Q. And then? 

A. Wedges and pedestal braces ; looking for loose or 
missing wedge-bolts. 

Q. After having thoroughly inspected the under side, what 
comes next? 

A. Guides and rods, with their bolts, keys and set-screws, 
demand special attention ; using a copper hammer to test the 
rod -keys. 

Q. After these come what? 

A. Say, the oil-cups and oil-holes over all ; the latter must 



742 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

be free from dirt and gum; and it is especially desirable to 
see that no cups are working loose. 

Q. How are the wheels tested? 

A. If of cast iron, with a sharp hammer-tap on the tread. 
They should ring clear like an uncracked bell. All wheels 
should be closely inspected at the joint between rim and tire, 
and hub and axle; oozing moisture and dirt in the first case; 
oil in the second, show looseness. 

Q. What tends to loosen tires? 

A. Their being worn down so that they are opened some- 
what large by the constant hammering against the rail. 

Q. Of what are cut -flanges a sign? 

A. (i) The axles may be skew with the frames or not 
parallel with each other; (2) the frame may be sprung and 
hence the axle-box jaws twisted; (3) the wedges may be 
badly adjusted; (4) the center-pin may be shifted. In a case 
of flange-cutting the shop men should be called in. 

Q. Should the engineman inspect the boiler? 

A. Yes and no. He should not be required to do it, as a 
boiler-maker can usually do it better; but he can detect leak- 
ing seams or stay-bolts. The former may be accompanied by 
dangerous broken braces or gussets. He should of course 
look at the crown-sheet and flues and be sure that the water- 
level is all right; and see that the fire is good. 

Q. How about examination of the smoke-box and stack? 

A. The smoke-box door should be opened and the petticoat- 
pipe and cone inspected ; the nettings and deflectors too, if 
there are any. 

Q. What is the advantage of keeping the zvater in the 
boiler hot by a separate heater while the machine is in the 
roundhouse? 

A. It lessens the liability to leaky tubes and cracked fire-box 
sheets. 



INSPECTION AND REPAIRS. 743 

Q. How can stuck-up check-valves be detected? 

A. If steam is on, steam and water will blow back into the 
tank ; otherwise, not. This should be looked after before going 
out of the roundhouse. 

Q. Before tiring, what should be looked to about the grates? 

A. They should be freed from clinkers, and all connections 
with shaker levers, etc., tested; the ash-pan, brick-arch, water- 
table, and combustion-chamber should be cleaned. 

Q. What inspection should be made at stopping-places? 

A. Where there is time, all boxes and bearings should be 
felt and oil squirted in where needed ; all parts observed, to 
see that no bolt, nut, or pin is missing. At coaling stations 
the inspection should be more extended and thorough. 

Q. What about inspection of the tank? 

A. It should have a sharp look if just from the shop, as it 
may have a bit of bagging or greasy waste therein. 

Q. How often should the safety-valve and steam-gages be 
tested? 

A. Every month. 

Q. What other points should be ' seen to, besides those 
already mentioned? 

A. That the frames are not sprung, nor the axle-box joints 
twisted out of square ; that the center-pin is central ; that there 
are no seams or stay-bolts leaking, and no leaks under the 
jacket; that the brakes go on and come off easily; that there 
is sufficient fuel and water in the tender ; that all tools for 
repairs and for firing are at hand; that the headlight is all 
right and all lamps are at hand, filled, and ready for service, 
all signals at hand and ready for use; that there is a supply 
of oil and tallow, and that the sand-box is full of good dry 
sharp unfrozen sand. 

0. What special tools and appliances should be at hand in 
case of accidents? 



744 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. A pinch-bar, an ax and a hand-saw; blocking for cross- 
heads, a piece of pine board by which to cover the valve-seat ; 
a thick board to lay in the fire-box in case it is necessary to 
plug a flue; flue-calking tools; some wooden flue plugs; a 
couple of sheets of copper or other thin metal to put between 
the steam-pipe flanges in case it is necessary to shut out one 
of the steam chests; and a pair of good jacks, or four to six 
oak wedges four feet long and tapering from four inches 
square at one end to a four-inch edge at the other. 

Q. How often should you examine the ash-pan, grates and 
dampers? 

A. At the end of each trip. 

Q. What are the fireman's duties on arriving at engine 
before starting out on the trip? 

A. To inspect the engine all over, and report in the regular 
requisition-book all repairs or adjustments needed, that he 
cannot or should not make himself. 

Q. What are his duties in ease of wreck when the engine 
is off the track ? 

A. First, to have the train protected front and rear ; then 
to inspect the damage, and if it cannot be remedied by the 
force at his command, to report in detail to the proper official. 

Q. What are the fireman's ditties on arriving at engine be- 
fore starting out on the trip? 

A. He should be on hand from one-quarter to one half hour 
before the engine is to leave the roundhouse ; have the cab 
and its contents made clean and free from dust, windows 
bright, deck swept, coal watered, oil cans filled and in place, 
water-supply looked to, gages inspected to see that they are 
in working order, lamps filled and in order. He should look 
at the number of cars and the load to be hauled and see what 
character of coal he has to do it with ; see that the ash-pan 
is free from cinders; that all the supplies, flags, lanterns, 
torpedoes, etc., are in place and of the right character; that 



INSPECTION AND REPAIRS. 745 

all tools are in place, fire-irons on the tender in their proper 
places, water-supply correct, and sand-box full of clean dry 
sand. 

0. What should be done before leaving the engine-house? 

A. The cylinder-cocks should be opened to bleed the cylin- 
ders, the bell rung, the throttle opened slightly, and the engine 
brought out slowly. On the way over the brakes may be 
tested, and the injector or pumps tried. 

Q. Should the engineman depend on the conductor and 
brakemen for keeping safe control of the train t 

A. Xo ; he is jointly responsible with them and should know 
meeting, passing, and stopping points. He should also show 
his train orders to the fireman: (i) because "two heads are 
better than one" as regards memory; (2) in case of accident 
to the engineman, the fireman can better protect his train. 

0. To what should the engine-runner look when an engine 
is taken out of the shop for the first time? 

A. He should see that there are no wrenches, pieces of 
bagging or waste, etc., left where they may do damage. In 
starting up, also, if there is any apparent impediment, he 
should go slowly, lest he knock out a head or cause some 
other accident by reason of tools being left in the cylinders or 
steam-chests, of eccentric rods wrongly connected, and so on. 

0. What are the duties of the engine-runner after cutting 
off his train at a terminal? 

A. To inspect his engine thoroughly and report, on the 
book or blanks therefor provided, any defect found. 

Q. What should be one of the first duties of an engine- 
runner before starting out? 

A. To go to the notice board to see if there is any special 
item that will be of interest to him ; as for instance notice of 
a bridge being gone, or dangerous. 

Q. What are the requirements of a traveling engineer? 



746 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. He should be thoroughly familiar with the peculiarities 
of the various kinds of fuel; know approximately the amount 
of fixed carbon in each, and make a study of each class of 
engine, so that he may instruct intelligently just how front 
ends should be adjusted for each coal, and understand the 
different methods of treatment and handling thereof in regard 
to air admission, grate movement, amount of fuel supplied, 
etc., so that the most economical results may be obtained ; 
should be constantly on the alert to instruct and advise any 
engineer or fireman, and spend a great deal of time on the 
road, where he can practically exemplify many of his teach- 
ings. His own knowledge, together with close observation of 
the methods of the best men under him, will enable him to 
instruct and assist those who have failed to reach the expected 
standard, and to do so in a manner sure to bring about good 
results. 

Q. What part, especially, of the engine-runner's business, 
cannot be learned from books or from companions? 

A. The judging of distances, time, and places. These must 
be acquired by experience, and the latter must be gained on 
each road for itself and for none other; it is a question of 
landmarks indicating what to do in preparation for some- 
thing else to come. 

Q. What are other ditties of the engine-runner before 
starting out? 

A. To report "on duty" long enough before train-time to 
enable him to attend to all that will be required of him ; look 
on the bulletin-board for matter that refers to his work; 
compare his time with that of the conductor; ask for orders. 

Q. What is the best way to cool down a boiler? 

A. To let out the hot water and let it stand for several 
hours. 

Q. What is a good precaution about the rods used in 
cleaning out a boiler? 



INSPECTION AND REPAIRS. 747 

A. They may be of copper, or of iron with a copper or 
brass tube around them, to keep them from injuring file 
threads of the plug-holes and thus rendering the boiler likely 
to leak dry. 

Q. In washing out, where should the hose first be Intro- 
duced? 

A. At the fire-box end. 

0. How may you know when the boiler is perfectly clean? 
A. By the color of the water running therefrom. 

Q. What should be done with the plugs in putting them in? 

A. To grease them, or better yet to black-lead them, so that 
they may be taken out with ease the next time. 

Q. Is the frequent testing of boilers by hydraulic pressure 
desirable? 

A. Not by any means, as ordinarily conducted. If, how- 
ever, there is just enough pressure applied to enable the 
finding of leaks, there may be an advantage ; but the same 
effect might be better produced by filling the boiler full of hot 
water and then raising the pressure by a low fire ; inspection 
to follow such test. 

Q. How much hot-water pressure would be desirable for 
this? 

A. Say 25 pounds per square inch, above working pressure, 
as a maximum. 

Q. Before washing out the boiler, what should be done? 

A. Before the engine is put in the shed, the smoke-box 
should be cleaned with shovel and hand brush. 

Q. How can a gage glass be cut? 

A. By scratching it inside with a file-point in a ring, just 
where it is to be divided, then holding it firmly in each hand 
and breaking it square across where the scratch line comes; 
or it may be broken while the file is still in ; care being taken 
to have the end of the latter right at the scratch. 



748 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What class of pieces requires special inspection and 
attention? 

A. Split pins and cotters. 

Q. Where should tools be kept? 

A. In a box with compartments or trays, so that everything 
can be got at quickly. 

Q. What is the best thing with which to grind out a cock? 

A. A leaden plug cast from the same pattern as the regular 
brass plug, only rapped considerably in the mold so as to make 
it larger than the brass one. 

Q. Hozv are nozzles reamed? 

A. In place, by a long-handled tool thrust down the stack. 

STARTING AND STOPPING. 

Q. In starting up, what is the action? 

A. The reverse-lever being put in either forward or back- 
ward position, either one or the other of the eccentric-rods is 
brought opposite the rocker-pin, so that that rod will operate 
the slide-valve as soon as the throttle is open. Then the 
throttle is opened by means of the throttle-lever, admitting 
steam through the dry-pipe to the stand-pipe, dry-pipe, branch- 
pipe, and steam-chests respectively; thence it is admitted to 
the cylinders by the slide-valves. The fire door should be open 
and the fire clean and level. 

Q. Should the engine be started with the throttle zvide open? 

A. No ; with it only partly open. 

Q. As the train gets under way, zvhat is done? 

A. The links are gradually hooked up towards the center, 
to save steam and give the fireman a chance to make up his 
fire. But if the coal is a kind that needs a strong draft, there 
should be less expansion than where it burns freely. 

Q. In starting a train, why should the reverse-lever be in 
full gear? 



STARTING AND STOPPING. 749 

A. Because at first the valves run hard by reason of there 
being no steam film between them and their seats, and greater 
power is required to move them ; also there is the inertia of 
the train to overcome. 

Q. Where should the reverse-lever be set when the engine 
is drifting without steam? 

A. In full gear, to prevent wearing the valve round and the 
seat in the center. 

0. // either, when does an engine start the easier — on the 
top quarter or on the lower quarter? 

A. There is no difference. 

0. What makes one engine "smarter' than another? 

A. It develops more mean effective pressure or has less 
internal friction, or both, independent of lead. 

0. What may be said about the quality of "liveliness'" in 
the locomotive? 

A. The principal duty of a locomotive is not to be "'lively/' 
but to ''get there." The engine which starts out lively from 
one station does not necessarily get to the next one any sooner 
than a more sluggish machine ; and the latter may haul more 
cars with a given fuel consumption, or use less coal to haul a 
given train, than the "lively" one. 

Q. Should starting up with increasing speed be done sud- 
denly or gradually? 

A. As gradually as possible, so as not to unduly strain the 
couplings or risk cocking the valves. 

0. Why is it that an engine is harder to start up after being 
still for awhile than after only a few seconds' stop? 

A. Because the valve seat has become dry, except for a 
small portion of oil that really increases the friction of the 
valve on its seat. 

0. What position of (he valve makes it the hardest to start 
the engine? , _ 



750 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. Where it covers both end-ports, and hence has on it no 
back pressure tending to counteract the downward pressure in 
the chest, on its back. 

Q. What is the proper way to start a heavy train ? 

A. One car should be started at a time, so as to avoid 
parting the train ; then when all the cars have been started the 
engine should be opened out; then when all was going well 
the reverse-lever should be hooked back to near the center in 
order to save steam. 

Q. What are the evil effects of drips from feed-pipes or 
cylinder-cocks, other than zvaste of water from the former? 

A. They wet the rails and lessen the starting or climbing 
power of the engine. 

Q. What precautions should be taken in "breaking in" an 
engine? 

A. To run slowly for ten miles with frequent stoppages to 
feel every brass; to keep wedges down until it is certain that 
the boxes are not warped or twisted by heating. 

Q. Should the speed be regulated by the throttle or by the 
reverse-lever? 

A. Usually by the reverse-lever alone, the throttle being 
kept full wide open — except in the case of very wet steam, 
where sometimes it may be found that it can be made drier 
by having the throttle partly closed. 

Q. What should be done with the links every time- that 
steam is shut off, on fast-running trains? 

A. They should be dropped, so as to prevent the formation 
of a vacuum in the cylinder and the consequent drawing in of 
cinders from the smoke-box ; also compression to such an 
extent as to cause valve-cocking. 

Q. Can an engine be entirely shut off by putting the reverse- 
lever in the middle notch? 

A. Very few can, particularly if they have uncrossed rods. 



REVERSING. 751 

Q. What should be done before shutting off, if the engine 
is under full steam? 

A. The blower should be put on a trifle, and the fire-box 
door opened, to prevent flame and smoke coming out of the 
fire-box door when the latter is opened. 

Q. Hoiv should sand be used when an engine is slipping? 
A. Sparingly. The best plan is to close the throttle until 
engine has rolled far enough to get sand under all the drivers. 

Q. Why is it that in starting up, unless the safety valves are 
blowing off, there seems to be {particularly if the pump or 
injector has been on recently) less life to the steam, with a 
given gage-pressure, than if the valves are blowing off? 

A. The steam is wet, or only saturated, instead of being 
slightly superheated, as might be the case when the engine has 
been standing without doing any work or having a stream of 
cold water fed in. 

Q. Under what other circumstances does the steam seem to 
be "dead"? 

A. After the fire has been drawn ; the gage may not show 
any less pressure for a time, but the steam seems to have less 
life. 

REVERSING. 

Q. What is the danger of reversing the engine when run- 
ning fast? 

A. Breaking steam-chests or covers, by excessive pressure. 

Q. What precaution should be taken in reversing suddenly? 

A. Not to close the throttle-valve, else there is danger of 
the air that the piston compresses in the steam-chest and 
steam-passages, bursting the chest or some of the pipes, unless 
it could lift the throttle. 

Q. Ho'K* may such an accident be avoided? 

A. By having a relief-valve in the dry-pipe, to give the 
compressed air passage. 



752 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What may be said about reversing any engine that has 
a piston valve? 

A. It should only be done when moving slowly, as it ruins 
piston-rod packing and packing-rings. 

Q. How may the cylinder-cocks act in the case of a sud- 
denly-reversed engine? 

A. If opened when the motion is reversed, they will let the 
air out at the end in which it is compressed and at the same 
time let clean air in at the sucking end, thus lessening at one 
end the danger of bursting the pipes or chest, and at the other 
the amount of cinders drawn in by suction. 

Q. How does opening the cylinder-cocks in case of sudden 
reversal improve lubrication? 

A. By preventing hot air from the smoke-box lapping the 
oil from the valve-seat. 

Q. What is the advantage of having two enginemen to run 
on alternate trips? 

A. It enables the work of one to be compared with that of 
the other and thus maximum service to be got out of both 
man and engine; besides enabling incompetent men to be 
sifted out. 

HOOKING UP. 

Q. What is the effect of excessive hooking up 

A. Where there is no superheater, there is too great loss 
from cylinder condensation. 

Q. What is the usual limit of cut-off? 

A. The earliest economical point is generally quarter stroke. 

Q. In what cases is it not advisable to zvork with wide 
throttle and short cut-off instead of partly-closed throttle and 
longer cut-off? 

A. In the case of an engine that does not lubricate well at 
short cut-off; that is, "goes lame when hooked up short," and 



COMBUSTION. 753 

has considerable lost motion between main axle and slide- 
valve. 

Q. For a light load, what arc the most economical points 
of cut-off and throttling? 

A. One-third cut-off and partly-closed throttle. 

Q. What is to be done at the top of a dozen grade ? 

A. The links hooked up and the throttle partly closed and 
kept so until near the bottom. 

Q. What care is needed in increasing valve-travel? 

A. Not to let it go so far as to endanger the fire. 

Q. What are the bad results of excessive piston-speed? 
- A. It is hard on the track, and also on rods, pins, and 
boxes, besides reducing the mean effective pressure. 

COMBUSTION. 

Q. What is combustion? 

A. Another name for burning. It is the rapid union of a 
substance or of a combination or a mixture of substances with 
oxygen ; this union being attended with the giving out of heat 
and more or less light. 

Q. What is oxygen? 

A. A colorless gas which, mixed with another colorless gas 
called nitrogen, forms about the weight and the bulk of the 
air which we breathe. 

Q. Will iron burn? 

A. Yes, if heated red hot and put in pure oxygen. 

Q. Do you knoic anything about black smoke, and what 
it is? 

A. It consists of combustion-gases resulting from the com- 
bination of the oxygen and nitrogen of the air with the carbon 
and hydrogen of the fuel, and mixed with unconsumed (that 
is, unoxidized) carbon, by reason of improper amount of 
air-supply. Perfectly-burned carbon produces colorless smoke. 



754 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

O. Will air enough come through the grates and fire to 
form perfect combustion of the coal? 
A. Seldom, even with thin firing. 

Q. Is it necessary to let in air above the Href 
A. Usually. 

0. What is the use of the hollow stay-boltsf 

A. Two- fold; to admit air above the grate, and to enable a 
broken one to be at once detected. 

Q. What is the object of holes in the fire-box door? 

A. Partly to admit air above the grate, to facilitate complete 
combustion ; partly to keep the fire-door from warping. 

Q. Will the cold air mix with the gases from the coal and 
bum at once, or must it be heated first? 

A. First heating would be better, but it cannot be properly 
effected. 

Q. When- the fire burns most in the front end of the fire- 
box, zvhat does it indicate? 

A. That the lower tubes have proportionately too much 
draft. 

Q. How is this remedied? 

A. By raising the petticoat-pipe, if there is one, or by 
shifting the diaphragm or adjustable apron in the case of an 
engine with a "long front end." 

FIRING. 

Q. How many pounds of coal do American engines burn 
per mile run? 

A. There can be no such rating given, for very obvious 
reasons. For instance, upon the I. & N. R. R. the passenger 
engines, according to one report, took 52.62 pounds; freight, 
83.27 ; mixed, 47.45 ; switching, 38.34 ; work trains, 64.37 ; 
average for all, 62.67. But this is influenced largely by 
grades, curves, etc. Upon the line just quoted, the greatest 



FIRING. 755 

grades run from 46 to 105 feet per mile; the average grade, 
7.6 to 22.2 feet per mile. 

Q. What class of roads demand the greatest care and skill 
on the part of engineman and -fireman? 
A. Hilly ones, especially from the fireman. 

Q. How is his skill best shown ? 

A. By having his fire well made up and kept at its best 
before "rushing'' an up grade. 

Q. Ts the danger of the fire being "turned" greatest on the 
up grade, or in getting ready to run it? 

A. In getting ready. 

Q. What is. the greatest disgrace that can befall an engine- 
runner or fireman? 

A. "Burning" his engine. 

Q. Should the fireman be on friendly terms with !iis 
engineman? 

A. It would be unfortunate if he were not; because it is 
in the engine-runner's power to help him gain a knowledge 
of the construction and operation of the engine, so that he can 
some day get a better run. 

Q. What should the fireman observe carefully besides his 
own regular zuork? 

A. The operations of boiler-feeding, oiling, braking, etc. ; 
he should learn to judge of the train-speed by night and by 
day, through the appearance of the landscape, the sounds of 
the exhaust and of the wheels, etc. ; also to note by the sounds 
of the moving parts whether or not everything is in good 
order. 

Q. Should the engine steam badly, what should first be 
examined ? 

A. The petticoat-pipe net and deflector plate. 

Q. JVhat are the two objects of the deflector plate? 

A. (1) Draft regulation ; (2) prevention of spark-throwing. 



756 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

0. Do these two harmonize? 

A. No; if too much attention is paid merely to spark- 
throwing, the draft will be inordinately lessened. 

0. What is necessary to the efficiency of a petticoat pipe? 
A. That it shall have proper diameter in proportion to that 
of the stack and be central, vertical, and at the proper hight. 

0. Hozo can one judge of the proper proportions and setting 
of the petticoat pipe? 

A. All flues should be uniformly free from soot. 

0. What is the evil effect of setting the petticoat pipe too 
high? 

A. Choking of the upper flues. 

0. What arc the bad consequences of a wrongly-set petti- 
coat pipe? 

A. Tearing of the fire, hence waste of fuel, and leaky sheets 
and flues. 

Q. What is the only way of keeping up steam where the 
petticoat pipe is badly set and tends to tear the fire? 

A. Excessively heavy firing, to prevent inlet of cold air 
through the grate. 

0. When an engine with a "long front end''' does not steam 
properly, zvhat should be done? 

A. The diaphragm should be tried at various angles until 
the best and most evenly distributed draft is attained. 

Q. What is the effect of closing the nozzles in such case? 

A. To make things worse ; the obstacle remains. 

0. What kind of nozzles do enginemen like, who want to 
make a good record and understand hozc to attain it? 

A. Wide ones. 

0. How do you take care of a boiler with old and fender 
or leaky flues? 

A. By feeding regularly, only when running: keeping an 



FIRING. 757 

even bright lire and regular steam-pressure, and avoiding 
~udden chilling of the fire-box sheets and the flues. 

Q. What else will help to keep the Hues tight? 

A. If the top of stack is covered after the fire is cleaned 
and engine is in the house, to keep cold air from drawing in 
and up through flues. 

0. Before starting the fire, what should be looked to? 

A. The water supply (by the gage-cocks, not by the glass) ; 
then the grates should be cleaned, the shaking levers con- 
nected, and cinders cleaned out from the brick arch, water- 
table or combustion chamber. 

Q. Explain haw you would fire an engine to make her 
steam well, run light on coal, and avoid unnecessary smoke: 7 

A. Little and often, regularly over the entire surface of the 
box, leaving a fire of that thickness which produces the best 
results with the fuel : paying especial attention to have the 
edges and corners covered so as to prevent the entrance of 
cold air and the consequent cooling of the fire-box sheets ; the 
coal being broken to that degree which will produce the most 
prompt and regular results, and as nearly regular in size as 
possible. 

0. How do you keep smoke from trailing over the train 
when running shut off? 

A. By avoiding opening the fire-door, and using the blower 
sparingly. 

0. What effect does it have upon the fire to open the fire- 
box door when the engine is working? 

A. It causes excess of cold air to chill the combustion- 
gases, and makes black smoke ; besides this, tends to crack 
sheets and make fires leak. 

Q. What effect does wetting the coal have? 

A. In some cases it improves the combustion ; this being the 
case only with soft coal, and usuallv only with small sizes. 



758 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

0. What is the bad effect of drenching the fire with water? 
A. To hurt the fire-box sheets, especially if of steel. 

0. Wlial zvill you do with a lire thai is banked? 

A. See that it does not get any more draft through it than 
can be helped ; especially if banked by reason of such a failure 
in some vital part, or of an imperfectly-stopped leak, as would 
cause trouble by rise of pressure. At the same time see that 
it did not go out entirely. 

Q. Do you use the blower on a free-steaming engine to 
prevent dense black smoke when shut off? 
A. Sparingly. 

Q. If blower is put on too strong zvhen changing the fire, 
zvhat is liable to happen? 

A. Tearing of the fire, forcing cold air through the hot 
flues, causing leaks about the stay-bolts. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of opening the fire-box door? 
A. It allows cold air to strike the hot sheets and tubes, thus 
tending to cause leaks ; also usually causing black smoke. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of excessive air supply? 

A. The causing of black smoke; giving no time for the 
combustion-gases to give their heat to the tubes on their way 
to the stack. 

Q. What is the evil effect of firing small mounds of coal, 
instead of spreading the fuel evenly over the grate? 

A. Between the mounds cold air comes in and causes smoke ; 
under them clinker forms and calls for frequent shaking. 

Q. What are the evil effects of shaking fuel, instead of only 
clinker through the grate? 

A. (i) Waste of fuel, (2) risk of burning the grate. 

Q. What is essential in making an engine steam well with 
anthracite coal? 

A. That the fire be laid very evenly, not thick (say 10 



FIRING. 759 

inches as a maximum) and that it be burned through before 
starting out. 

Q. How much time is required for this? 
A. From one and one-half to two hours. 

Q. What is the advantage of a thin Href 

A. Combustion may be more rapidly and regularly effected 
(especially with anthracite coal) if the draft is not too strong, 
so as to tear the fire. 

Q. What is the danger of allowing cinders to accumulate in 
the ash-pan? 

A. It is liable to burn the grates, especially if it contains 
sulphur. 

Q. What about the condition of the fire in starting? 

A. It should be good, clear, and uniform, so that the fire- 
man may have time and opportunity for seeing and hearing 
signals-. 

Q. What kind of firing should be done before reaching an 
up grade? 

A. The fire should be got so as to draw on the reserve 
power or momentum of the train, and at the same time be 
bright, clear and strong to keep the steam-pressure up to the 
desired point, and never let the train get down to that speed 
at which the traction lessens. 

Q. What sort of a fire should there be when feeding after 
climbing a hill? 

A. Bright and good, to prevent the cold water chilling the 
flues. 

Q. Which gage-cock is it especially necessary to keep open? 

A. The lower one. 

Q. Should water in a gage-glass fluctuate with the water 
line in the boiler? 

A. Yes. 



760 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. With how much steam should the engine be brought in 
at the end of the trip? 

A. With just enough to bring it into the roundhouse after 
cleaning the fire. 

Q. When an engine comes in from a trip, what is the custom 
on most roads? 

A. The fire is cleaned and then banked. 

Q. Where this is not done, what is the best way to be sure 
of quickly starting up a new fire? 

A. Having plenty of good dry wood handy. 

Q. What is the advantage of not drawing the fire? 

A. The cooling and reheating strains are avoided, and time 
is saved. 

Q. What should be done in cleaning out the ash-pan? 

A. The dampers, if there are any (and there should be) 
should be closed so as to prevent the further passage of cold 
air through fire-boxes and flues. 

Q. What is the effect of blowing off while hot? 

A. It often cracks sheets and breaks stay-bolts; and tends 
to cause hard scale. 

Q. What is the best way of preventing blowing off? 

A. Regular firing; but when it occurs in spite of that, the 
ash-pan should be closed rather than the fire-door opened. 

Q. What should be done zvith an extended smoke-box 
engine with a diaphragm, when the fire does not burn zvell 
and the inside of the tire-door gets black? 

A. Either the flues should be cleaned or the apron raised. 

Q. What is one of the signs that an engine has proper 
draft? 

A. The inside of the fire-door getting quite hot when 
running. 

Q. What should be done if the fire bums more at the back 
than at the front of the tire-box? 



FIRING. 761 

A. The draft-pipe should be raised. 

Q. How may the draft- pipe be raised or lowered? 
A. Usually by a sleeve provided for this purpose. 

Q. What should be done in ease the engine tears her Href 
A. First the exhaust-nozzles should be examined to see if 

they do not need cleaning; if they do not they are probably 

too small, and should be changed for larger. 

Q. What will be the effect of too low a draft-pipe? 
A. The fire will be burned proportionately too much at the 
back of the fire-box. 

Q. Should the fire-door be opened during the starting 
strain? 
A. No. 

Q. Which are the hardest to start — American or European 
trains? 

A. European, because their bumpers are brought up 
together and the whole train must be started at once. 

Q. What can be said about grate-shaking? 
A. If not properly performed, much fuel is wasted, and 
holes appear in the bed of coals, letting in cold air. 

Q. What is the real object of shaking with good coal? 

A. Merely to keep clinkers from chilling between the bars. 

Q. What is the proper way to shake? 
A. With short quick jerks. 

Q. At a stop, should the fire be replenished? 
A. No. 

Q. What is the effect of firing just as the throttle is opened? 
A. The cold air coming in through the fire-door causes 
leakage of tubes and sheets. 

Q. Should firing be done while pulling out of a station 
A. No. The fireman should be watching for signals. 



762 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. How much difference in the coal consumption can be 
made by proper firing, over bad? 
A. A quarter. 

Q. In case of drawing the fire, what precaution should be 
taken? 

A. Not to have the drawn fire directly under the air-reser- 
voir ; or if this was absolutely necessary by reason of the 
position of the engine, as in a derailment, the air-reservoir 
valve should be opened to release the air and prevent explosion. 

Q. Under what circumstances should the fire be drawn most 
promptly? 

A. In case the crown-sheet or flues are left uncovered by 
water. 

Q. In case the fire cannot be dumped (as by reason of the 
ash-pan being jammed), how may it be damped? 

A. By covering it with sand, earth or sods or by drowning 
it out by snow or water. 

Q. What is one of the difficulties encountered in using big 
engines?- 

A. The inability of the fireman to maintain steam. 

Q. What is the real use of the damper? 

A. To control the air supply so as to permit good com- 
bustion. 

Q. Does the tire-box usually get too much or too little air? 

A. Too much, especially where double dampers are used. 

Q. How is this evil lessened? 

A. By using the back damper only, except when the fire 
begins to get dirty and the grate clogged. 

O. What is the especial evil of running with only the front 
damper open? 

A. It causes trouble with the bottom edges of the fire-box 
and the mud-ring. 

Q. Should the damper-rods have notched sectors? 



FIRING. 763 

A. Yes. 

Q. Would firing with both dampers closed and swinging 
the door between each shovelful cause leakage of Hues? 

A. Yes. The exhaust draws cold air exclusively through 
the door. When dampers are open the cold air is mixed with 
hot air passing through fire. 

Q. Is banking of fires economical, or not? 

A. It is not. 

Q. Given a coal -which puts a clinker upon the flue-sheet, 
that gradually covers up the flue openings and greatly reduces 
the steam-making capacity, what is the best remedy? 

A. To keep broken limestone upon the tender, and throw a 
shovelful into the fire-box every hour or two. Two shovel- 
fuls before starting will generally keep off the clinker for a 
whole division. 

Q. Is smokeless firing practicable? 

A. Yes ; but until there are fines for producing smoke, fire- 
men will be apt to leave the door open, overload the grate, 
and do other things which produce smoke. 

Q. What should be done to prevent black smoke trailing 
when the throttle is closed? 

A. The blower should be put on. 

0. What are the adjustable parts in the front end, by which 
the fire is regulated? 

A. The ash pan and the fire door or doors. 

Q. Explain what adjustments can be made, and the effect 
of each on the fire? 

A. Closing the ash pan tight lessens the draft through the 
fuel and retards combustion ; opening the fire door does this 
also, but has a bad effect on the flue sheet. 

0. How may smokeless firing of soft coal be accomplished? 

A. As carried out on the C. X. O. and T. P. Ry. the engines 
were equipped with brick arches and four holes were made 



764 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

on each side, a foot above the grate, to admit air. Four tubes 
passed through the arch, and in these the outside air was 
heated to a high temperature before entering the fire-box. 

The coal is fired a shovelful at a time, and at each shovel- 
ful the door left open an inch or two for two or three seconds. 
Before starting, the blower is put on, the box well filled, ahd 
the door left on the latch until the smoke disappears. Be- 
fore tunnels the fire is coaled in ample time to enable the train 
to go through without smoke, with closed fire doors. 

In approaching a stop station the blower is on, the door 
is opened as little as possible. On side tracks both dampers 
are closed. Grates are shaken seldom and ash pan kept 
empty; the coal (screened lump) is wet before firing. 

Q. Now that on some roads the use of coke as fuel is com- 
pulsory, it would be well to know what is the best way to 
handle it. What can you say in this connection? 

A. The preparation of the fire must receive careful atten- 
tion. Wood and semi-bituminous, "low volatile" soft coal is 
first applied to the grates to assist in igniting the coke and 
prevent it from clinkering over the grate surface. After the 
coal is thoroughly ignited the coke is introduced until the 
fire-box is filled, and the steam blower then used until the 
coke is well burned through and makes a solid body of fire. 
The fire is left in this condition until the locomotive has com- 
menced work and until 15 or 20 miles have been run, then 
at the first opportunity, usually when the steam is not being 
worked, the fire-box is refilled with coke. 

Q. What conditions will admit of holes being torn in a coal 
Href 

A. Thin places on the grate, and excessively small nozzles. 

Q. Is it a waste of fuel to open the fire-box door to prevent 
the pops from opoiini^? 
A. Yes, 



FIRING WITH OIL. 705 

Q. How far can the average fireman throw coal in a fire- 
box? 

A. Xot over ten feet. 

Q. What would be the advantages of a good stoking appa- 
ratus for a locomotive? 

A. To lessen the work of the fireman; to do work that 
would be beyond the physical strength of the fireman ; to put 
the coal into the box in small even charges, distributed uni- 
formly over the entire grate ; to lessen the contraction and 
expansion on the side sheets and flues, as the fire is brought 
all over the grate at all times and no air goes into the fire- 
box through the door ; to keep the fire-box door always 
closed : to burn a cleaner fire, and go further without cleaning 
the fire. 

FIRING WITH OIL. 

Q. Hoiv long has crude petroleum been "used as fuel for 
locomotives? 

A. Since 1883, when it was applied by Urquhart on the 
Grazi Tsaritzin railway in Russia. 

0. What is the most usual way of introducing the fuel into 
the firebox? 

A. By an atomizer or spray. 

Q. Why is oil more used in Russia than in America? 

A. Partly because coal is cheaper here ; partly because most 
of the American oil is too good to be used for that purpose ; 
it pays' better to make illuminating and lubricating oil from it. 

Q. Weight for weight, what are the relative values of oil 
and coal } properly burned? 

A. One pound of oil should generate as much steam as 
3^ pounds of coal ; but in practice it never does more than 
double as much work ; usually only 50 per cent more. 

Q. What arc the principal factors in determining zvhether it 
will pay to use oil? 



766 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. (l) How much it costs in comparison with coal. 

(2) How much it costs to handle the oil. 

(3) What the repairs and depreciation would amount to in 
each case. 

Outside of the questions of repairs and depreciation, it may 
approximately be expressed by the formulae 
(C-+ 10.7c) 

— P; 

2,000 E 
in which C is the price of coal delivered at the engine, c the 
cost of firing the coal (as for instance $0.50 per ton), E the 
number of pounds of water that a pound of coal in question 
will evaporate into dry steam at the boiler pressure (as for 
instance 6), and P the price per U. S. gallon. (All prices in 
dollars or fractions thereof.) 

Q. How much does a U. S. gallon of crude oil weigh? 

A. About seven pounds. 

Q. How many gallons in a barrel? 

A. Forty-two. 

Q. How many barrels in a gross ton? 

A. Seven. (More exactly, 7.017.) 

Q. How many U. S. liquid gallons in a gross ton? 

A. Nearly 300. (More exactly, 294.72.) 

Q. What is the heating power of ordinary crude oil? 

A. California crude oil ranges about 19,500 British thermal 
units per pound. 

Q. What is its evaporative pozver? 

A. About 13.5 pounds of water from and at 212 F. 

Q. At this rate, zvhat is its efficiency in the boiler? 

A. About 80 per cent. 

Q. What American roads use oil-burning engines?- 

A. The Southern Pacific, the Santa Fe, the Salt Lake, and 
nearly all the smaller California lines. 



FIRING WITH OIL. 767 

Q. What are the advantages of oil burners where oil is 
cheap" 

A. (i) More perfect combustion than coal; [2) cheapness 
of handling; (3) absence of ashes to be handled; (4) no fuel 
burned at turn-outs and sidings, and little or none at stations ; 
(5) lessened repairs, except in the matter of fireboxes and 
flues ; (6) less expense in cleaning, because the engine remains 
cleaner; (7) less wear of the engine, from smoke and cinders; 
(8) less waste of steam by blowing off, as the combustion 
may be controlled; (9) no choking up of ballast by cinders 
thrown from the stack or dropped from the ash pan, interfer- 
ing with the drainage and causing expense for cleaning; (10) 
less space taken up in storing, by reason of the smaller volume 
and the possibility of having the oil stored in tall holders, 
taking up less ground ; ( 1 1 ) less dead weight of fuel to carry ; 
that is, for a given amount of steam generated, there is needed 
only half as many tons of oil as of coal, and when we consider 
the waste by coal firing at stations, this saving is still more 
marked, as no oil need be % carried except that actually used 
in running; (12) no sparks, doing away with claims for dam- 
ages to passengers' eyes and clothing, to goods carried in open 
cars, to crops along the road, and to the paint on the cars ; 
(13) possibility of making flues smaller and having more of 
them, thus increasing the flue surface that may be put into a 
boiler. (This is, however, of comparatively little importance, 
so long as in the ordinary engine there is not enough grate 
surface for the flues already there.) 

Q. Hozv many types of oil burners or mixers are there? 

A. Two general types, outside and inside mixers. 

Q. What is the distinction betzveen these two? 

A. In outside mixers the steam used to spray the oil meets 
it in the air ; in inside mixers the oil and the steam meet each 
other in the jet. 

Q. Xame a type of outside burner? 



7(;S LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. The Booth- Wade, used on the Santa Fe line. 
Q. Name, one or more inside burners? 




ft 






o 

o 
o 

PQ 



s 



l2.z ? 



BACK ELEVATION 



FIRING WITH OIL. 



769 



A. The Sheedy, used on the Southern Pacific; and the 
Hummel, used on the Salt Lake line. 

Q. Describe the so-called Santa Fe oil burner? 

A. Referring to Fig. 420 : There are two chambers, one for 
steam and one for oil, the latter being above and the former 
being supplied with a very fine slit, as shown at the left-hand 
end. The steam heats the upper chamber, and in time the oil 
as it flows from right to left in the figure. On issuing at the 




fbij__Jio\ 



hrw^) 



Fig. 421. Sheedy Oil Burner. 



left it is spread by the steam into the fire, making a wide 
sheet of flame. The steam and oil supply valves are controlled 
from the cab. This burner is readily attached to the mud 
ring. 

Q. Describe the Sheedy or Southern Pacific oil burner? 

A. Referring to Fig. 421 : There are three passages, for 
steam, air, and crude oil respectively. As seen in the figure, 
the oil enters above, the air below, the steam between the two, 
spraying the mixture of all three through one nozzle, both 
upwards and downwards ; for which latter reason the burner 
is near the upper portion of the bricked-up part of the firebox. 

Q. Describe the Baldwin type of oil burner? 



770 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



A. Referring to Fig. 422 : This is of rectangular cross sec- 
tion, having a channel above for oil and one below for steam, 
both supply valves being operated from the cab. The oil has 
free outlet at the nose of the burner ; the steam, however, has 
a long narrow aperture, the width of which is controlled by an 





p 


1 




'-„ 













r 




b 









111— tf I 



SECTION A-B > 




Fig. 422. Baldwin Oil Burner. 



adjustable plate. The steam heats the oil above it, as in the 
other burner described. 

Q. Where is this burner usually placed? 

A. At the back end of the firebox, directing the spray 
against a brick arch. 

Q. What other zvay is there? 

A. To place it on the front end of the firebox, doing away 
with the necessity of having a brick arch, which is a very 
expensive part, especially with oil burners. 

Q. Describe the Lassoe-Lovekin oil burners. 

A. Referring to Fig. 423 : The special feature is the absence 
of the brick arch. The oil is sprayed in under pressure of 



firing with oil. 771 

1 20 pounds to the square inch, applied by a pump from the 
front end of the firebox, no steam being necessary. 

Q. Describe the oil-burner firebox of the Baldwin works? 

A. Referring to Fig. 424 : The burner is below the mud ring 
at the back of the firebox, but pointed slightly upwards, spray- 
ing the mixture of oil and steam against the brick arch ; the 



Fig. 423. L,assoe-L,ovekin Oil Burner. 

throat sheet below the arch being protected by fire-brick; and 
the grate bars having a layer thereof from the front wall to 
about half-way back. Under the burner there is a fire-brick 
hearth to catch any oil which may drop instead of being prop- 
erly sprayed. The sides of the box are also bricked up high 
enough to prevent them being injured by the flame. 

0. Hozc is the air admission controlled? 

A. By a damper at the back, which can be closed perfectly 
airtight when the oil supply is shut off, to save cracking box 
and tubes. Instead of the fire-door there mav be simply a 



772 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 




FIRING WITH OIL. 



773 



peep hole. If there is a door it should be protected by fire- 
brick or ganister. 

Q. Describe the Baldwin oil-burning firebox for the Vander- 
bilt boiler? 

A. Referring to Fig. 425 : The burner is introduced through 
the lined casing which forms the back boiler head ; it is slightly 




Fig. 425. Baldwin Oil Burner for Vanderbilt Boiler. 

above the bottom of the box, and the corrugated wall of the 
firebox is protected at bottom and part way up by a fire-brick 
lining. The front wall and arch are far enough back to form 
a sort of combustion chamber for the gases before they reach 
the tubes. 

Q. Should the oil be sprayed in hot or cold? 
A. As hot as possible ; first, because this promotes combus- 
tion ; and second, because it facilitates its flow. 

Q. What is the disadvantage of oil burning as regards the 
tubes? 

A. There is -apt to be a formation of gum and soot, choking 
up the tubes. 

0. Hon* is this done away with? 

A. It is not done away with; provision is made to remove 
the deposit by a sort of sand blast ; there being a funnel which 
can be inserted in the fire-door to force sand by means of a 



774 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

steam jet through the tube, driving the deposit out through the 
stack. (See Fig. 426.) 

Q. Hozv is the oil for oil-burning -fireboxes carried? 

A. In two tanks, one fitting inside of the ordinary coal 
bunker ; the other lying over the water tank. Another way is 
to submerge the oil tank in the water tank. 

Q. What precautions are taken with regard to the oil tanks? 

A. Each of the two has an automatic check valve, which 




Fig. 426. Sand Funnel for Flue Cleaning. 

closes in case connection between engine and tender is broken ; 
there is a smaller one in the pipe between tank and burner. 

Q. How is the oil heated in winter? 

A. By a steam coil in the tank. 

Q. Is the oil fed by gravity or under pressure? 

A. Light oil can be fed in summer, or when it is warm, by 
simple gravity ; but heavy oil, and light oil in winter, when it is 
not heated, must be fed in under about 5 pounds pressure per 
square inch. 

Q. Does oil permit smokeless firing? 

A. No ; because it does not perfectly vaporize ; the residuum 
causes smoke and soot ; further, conditions change so often 
that perfect combustion cannot be maintained, 

Q. Is oil firing easy? 



FIRING WITH OIL, 775 

A. From the physical point of view, yes : from that of wear 
and tear of the nerves, no; for the fireman has to keep his 
eye on the gage, and his hand on the oil throttle, all the time. 

0. What is the disadvantage of starting with 
A. That as water always comes over at first, the fire is apt 
to spit by reason of the water putting out the flame. 

0. Is there no provision for getting rid of the water? 

A. Yes : there is a drip cock at the bottom of the tank, but 
some of the water remains mixed up with the oil, partly by 
reason of the agitation due to running. 

0. Why is it specially necessary to avoid making smoke in 
burning crude oil? 

A. Because the smoke contains so much gum and soot, which 
fills the tubes and not only retards the draft, but prevents the 
conduction of the heat to the water. 

0. What precaution must be taken i)i cuttiiig dozen the fire? 
A. With closed throttle, there is danger of putting the fire 

out in cutting down. 

Q. JJliat special harm would that do? 

A. Sudden cooling down of the firebox, sheets, and flues, 
especially in view of the velocity of the moving train increas- 
ing the natural draft. 

0. Hoic is the fire started in the oil-burning engine iti the 
round-house? 

A. Steam connection is made to the three-way cock- and 
the smoke arch,, serving as both blower and atomizer : a piece 
of lighted greasy waste is put in front of the jet; the oil is 
started running slowly, the steam valve is then opened enough 
to spray the oil, when the burning waste will light it. When 
steam is raised, the round-house steam should be cut off. 

0. What would be the effect of turning on too much oil? 



776 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. Possibly to cause an explosion in the fire-box, driving 
the flame out and injuring the fireman. 

Q. What would be the effect of letting the fire go out when 
first started in the round-house or otherwise in a cold engine? 

A. The oil would be apt to run into the pit and take fire 
later. 

Q. How can the fireman tell if the fire has gone out? 
A. By the smoke being of a milky white color ; also by the 
smell. 

Q. How can the fire be started in an oil-burning engine 
where no steam is available? 

A. By using wood in the firebox until there is about 10 to 
15 pounds pressure in the boiler; care being taken not to 
damage the fire-brick lining, and not to cause fires on the 
line. 

Q. What is necessary as regards the relation of the engine- 
runner and fireman? 

A. That they should be in perfect understanding with each 
other, so that before the throttle is closed the fireman can close 
the oil-valve to prevent smoke and popping. In starting up, 
the fireman should know in time to open the oil-valve just 
before the throttle is opened, so that the fire will be burning 
before cold air is drawn in by the exhaust. The fireman should 
reach the throttle lever and increase the oil flow in proportion 
to the steam consumption. 

Q. What about the length of time requisite to bring steam 
up after it has been dropped? 

A. No less time should be taken with oil firing than with 
steam, as the effect on the plates and flues would be bad. 

Q. How should firing be done on long down grades? 
A. There should be a slight fire, and the injectors should be 
worked to prevent popping. 



FIRING WITH OIL. 777 

Q. What precaution should be taken as regards preventing 
explosion of the oil? 

A. Not to go nearer to the man-holes or vent-holes of the 
tender than ten feet with a lighted torch or lantern. 

Q. How can the fireman find out how much oil there is in 
the tank at night? 

A. By inserting a dry clean stick, then taking this to the 
light, and measuring the part that has been in the oil. 

Q. Is the oil tank dangerous when empty? 
A. Yes ; no light should be taken into it before it has been 
well steamed and washed out. 

Q. What ivould be the effect of opening oat the steam and 
oil jets before placing the lighted waste in the firebox? 

A. There might be an accumulation of gas in the box, caus- 
ing an explosion. 

Q. What precautions should be taken before starting the 
fire? 

A. The back damper should be raised; the fireman should 
see that there is nothing in front of the burner to obstruct the 
passage of the oil, and that there is no oil in the pan. The 
blower should be put on ; the water blown, out of the oil pipe ; 
then the lighted waste put in. 

Q. What about the cost of handling crude oil } as compared 
with that of handling coal for the same service? 
A. The oil is about 75 per cent cheaper to handle 

Q. What accidents are liable to take place with the burner? 
A. It may get stopped up with waste, or with scale or dirt ; 
or it may burst from the heat. 

Q. How is the fire to be put out? 

A. By shutting off the oil valve from the tank, burning out 
all the oil that is between it and the burner and then closing 
the firing valve, the atomizer, and the dampers. 



778 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. What would probably be the effect of slipping or zvork- 
ing the engine hard with the fire out? 
A. To cause the flues to leak. 

O. How are oil tanks to be cleaned? 

A. By filling them with water, adding caustic soda, and 
turning on steam through the heater pipe until the oil boils 
over the manhole. 

EXAMINATION OF FIREMEN. 

Q. By whom will the examination of firemen for position 
as enginemen be conducted? 

A. By the road foreman of engines on the subjects given 
hereafter; and the trainmaster on such subjects as are under 
their respective jurisdictions; and by such other persons as the 
superintendent may direct. 

Q. From zvhom zvill candidates be selected? 

A. From those who have served as firemen at least three 
years. 

Q. By seniority? 

A. No ; firemen must not reiy upon seniority ; the best inter- 
ests of the company demand that vacancies shall be filled with 
men who have shown themselves most worthy of promotion ; 
loyal, faithful, intelligent, and economical performance. 

Q. Are the examinations in writing? 

A. The examination will be either written, oral, or both, 
as the examiners may elect. 

The examiners may vary the arrangement of the questions, 
or add to them, as they see fit, and if any answers of the can- 
didate are not satisfactory, he will be questioned further on 
the doubtful points. 

Q. On what else will the candidate be examined? 

A. In addition to this, he may be required to pass a prac- 
tical examination on the locomotive, its operation, and the 



EXAMINATION OF FIREMEN. 779 

uses of its parts and attachments. He may be required to 
disconnect certain parts, such as rods, crossheads, links, and 
eccentrics, and put them together ; to explain the uses of the 
shoes and wedges and the proper manner of making adjust- 
ments of the same, and to show familiarity with the construc- 
tion of pistons, slide valves, etc. He may then be required 
to operate injectors, to take them apart, and to point out the 
parts that are likely to be affected in service. ' He will be 
called on to explain the construction and uses of the throttle 
valve and connections, dry pipe, steam pipes, etc. He will be 
required to understand the Westinghouse air brake and train 
signal. He may be taken to an air-brake apparatus and re- 
quired to operate it ; to name the principal parts and explain 
their uses ; to explain the manner of producing the supply 
of air, its storage, and its course when applying and releasing 
the brakes. He must also understand the uses and manner 
of operating the sight-feed lubricators. 

A locomotive engineman will not be considered competent 
to properly care for and handle a locomotive, who does not 
have a general knowledge of the uses of its parts and the 
manner in which they are put together and secured in place. 
When smaller parts break, he must have the necessary knowl- 
edge to remove and replace them properly, and must be com- 
petent to locate defects that may develop. Candidates must 
pass the examinations referred to above to the satisfaction of 
the examiners. If successful, the examiners shall certify to 

the result of the examination upon blank Xo. , to be 

delivered to the superintendent and kept on file in his office 
for future reference. 

Q. Should a candidate fail to pass a satisfactory examina- 
tion may he be given another opportunity on a future occasion, 
when further promotions are to be made? 

A. Yes. If so, he will be furnished with a memorandum 
of the subjects on which he displayed insufficient knowledge, 



780 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

iii order to assist him in making the necessary investigations 
preparatory to the second examination. 

Q. If he fails to pass the second examination, what will be 
done? 

A. His record, with the result of the two examinations, will 
be forwarded to the superintendent, who will determine 
whether or not the candidate will be retained in the company's 
service. 

Q. What is required of applicants for position as firemen? 

A. They must meet the following requirements before their 
applications are filed: 

They must be able-bodied; not less than 21 nor more than 
26 years of age ; able to read printing, such as in the Book of 
Rules, and writing, such as train orders ; and write sentences 
of their own composition or from examiner's dictation. They 
must be able to solve problems in addition, subtraction, multi- 
plication, division, and elementary fractions and decimals, so 
as to be able to compute speed, time, and distance. They 
must pass the standard test for sight, hearing, and color sense, 
and the examination for physical fitness. 

These examinations and written papers, together with the 

Form of Application for Employment, Form , when 

satisfactorily filled out, will be filed in the office of the road 
foreman of engines, or such other place as the superintendent 
may direct. 

When employing firemen, the most suitable men for the 
service will be selected from this file, without regard to the 
date of application. 

All firemen will be given instruction and opportunity to 
learn the road, before being regularly assigned to duty. 

After six months' service, the fireman must pass an exam- 
ination on such questions relating to his duties as may be put 
to him by his instructor (and most, if not all, of which will be 
found, with correct answers thereto, in these pages). He 



ACCIDENTS WITH COMPOUND ENGINES. 781 

may be required to pass further examinations on more ad- 
vanced matters, at such periods of service as the superinten- 
dent may designate. 

ACCIDENTS WITH THE BALDWIN FOUR-CYLINDER UNBALANCED 

COMPOUND. 

Q. In case of a broken or disconnected main valve rod on 
a Baldwin four-cylinder unbalanced compound; what must be 
done? 

A. Put the valve on the center of the seat so as to cover 
all the ports on that side ; disconnect the main rod and block 
the crosshead as in directions for non-compound engines. 

Q. In case a low-pressure cylinder-head on a Baldzi'in com- 
pound is broken out, can the engine be run on both sides with- 
out disconnecting? 

A. Yes. 

Q. What would be the course of the exhaust in such case? 

A. On the damaged side it would pass through the open 
end of the low-pressure cylinder into the air, without going 
into the stack. 

0. If the engine were run without disconnecting in this case, 
what difficulty might be met? 

A. The exhaust escaping in front of the cab might obstruct 
the engineer's view, if it was the right-hand cylinder that was 
disabled. 

0. In case of the low-pressure piston-head on a Baldwin 
compound breaking away from the crosshead and going out 
of the cylinder, what would be the course of the steam? 

A. It would go into the air from both ends of the high- 
pressure cylinder through the open ends of the low. 

0. How many exhausts are there to a Baldwin compound 
per wheel revolution? 

A. Xormallv, four. 



782 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. How many would there be when both low-pressure cyl- 
inder-heads were broken out? 
A. Only two. 

Q. Could a Baldwin compound be run with both high-press 
are piston-heads removed? 

A. Yes, if the stuffing box was made steam tight; in this 
case the steam valves would supply live steam direct to the 
low-pressure cylinders. 

Q. In this case what would be the course of the steam? 

A. From the chest into the high-pressure cylinder, then 
through the main steam valve into the low-pressure cylinder at 
nearly boiler pressure. 

Q. When a main rod of the Baldwin compound is broken or 
disconnected, what should be done? 

A. The valve should be blocked in the center of the seat 
so as to cover all ports ; and the crosshead blocked. 

Q. How may the valve best be blocked? 
A. By pieces of wood, between the guides, each side of the 
small (valve) crosshead. 

Q. How should the cylinder cocks stand when the engine is 
running not under steam? 

A. Open, to prevent the low-pressure piston from making 
a vacuum in the high-pressure cylinder and causing the latter's 
packing to be picked up by the piston rod, 

ACCIDENTS TO THE BALDWIN FOUR-CYLINDER BALANCED 
COMPOUND. 

Q. In case of breakage of any connecting rod of a Baldzvin 
(Vauclain) four-cylinder balanced compound, what is to be 
done until the other rods? 

A. They may be left in place, but the engine must be run 
only slowly, as it would then be out of balance. 






ACCIDENTS WITH COMPOUND ENGINES. 783 

Q. // it zuere a high-pressure main rod, what would be the 
steam distribution necessary? 

A. The low-pressure cylinder would be run non-compound, 
the undamaged high-pressure side being steam balanced. 

Q. If it zuere a L.P. main rod? 

A. The L.P. head could be removed and the engine run 
(unbalanced) compound on the good side and H.P. on the 
bad; or the good H.P. cylinder could be steam balanced and 
both L.P. run (again unbalanced) high-pressure. 

Q. What should be done in case of a broken valve stem or 
valve rod? 

A. The valve blocked in central position and all its ports 
clos'ed; both main rods on that side taken down, the piston 
blocked at back stroke, and the engine taken home with one 
side. 

0. Can a Baldwin four-cylinder balanced compound be run 
with both end sections of one valve removed? 

A. Yes ; the middle section distributing to the H.P. 
cylinder, which would exhaust direct in stack, so the low- 
pressure pistons would be running empty and dry unless 
specially lubricated. 

Q. In case of tzvo broken forward side-rod sections, what 
must be done? 

A. Get towed in dead; as the eccentrics are on the second 
axle, which is driven by the side rods. 

Q. In case of one broken forward side-rod section failing, 
could the engine be run? 

A. No; because the second driver pair (the third also if 
there were one) would have to be driven by the remaining 
side-rod section only, and would be likely to run the wrong 
way. 

0. With one defective end section of the valve, what would 
happen? 



784 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

A. The engine would work half compound on that side ; 
i.e., one end of the L.P. cylinder would get H.P. exhaust, the 
other, nothing. 

Q. How would the exhaust cough in this case? . 
A. With three mild coughs followed by one sharp one, 
each turn. 

ACCIDENTS WITH THE RICHMOND COMPOUND. 

Q. What is the proper course in case of damage to a Rich- 
mond H.P. main rod? 

A. The rod taken down; H.P. valve blocked in central posi- 
tion; crosshead blocked at full stroke end; engine run H.P. 
on the L.P. side. 

Q. Hozv does the L.P. cylinder get steam when the H.P. 
side is disconnected? 

A. By the starting and reducing valves on the L.P. side. 

Q. Would the receiver get. no steam? 

A. Not unless the H.P. valve or the intercepter leaked; 
in which case the emergency valve might be opened from 
time to time, to bleed the receiver; else the intercepter might 
open and give the receiver live steam. 

Q. What is the correct thing to do in case the H.P. valve 
stem goes? 

A. Just as for a disabled main rod. 

Q. What should be the course with the L.P. main rod 
down? 

A. The valves on that side blocked centrally; the L.P. 
piston run to full back-stroke end, the crosshead blocked 
in #it guides, the emergency valve of the intercepter opened. 

Q. What zvould you do for a broken L.P. valve stem? 

A. Just as for a disabled L.P. main rod ; in addition, block ; 
open the intercepter, thus keeping the starting valve and the 
reducer shut. 



ACCIDENTS WITH COMPOUND ENGINES. 785 

0. How is the intercepter chocked open? 

A. By a block behind the dash-pot piston head. 

0. How can a stuck-open intercepter be put to rights/ 

A. By opening the emergency valve; or by striking on the 
stem that projects through the dash pot. 

Q. What would be the effect of the starting valve and the 
reducer sticking shut? 

A. To cause the intercepter to fail. 

Q. What is the remedy? 

A. Just as previously laid down for intercepter not work- 
ing. 

0. What effect on the compound working? 

A. The engine would work non-compound until the reducer 
shut. 

Q. Should the intercepter not close the reducer, hozc could 
the engine be made to run compound? 

A. By pulling open the intercepter, thus closing the reducer 
and the starting valve. 

Q. How may the intercepter be held open? 

A. By clamping the stem that passes through the dash 
pot. 

Q. Could the engine be run compound with disabled emer- 
gency valve? 

A. Yes ; the damaged valve could be removed, its seat 
plugged, and the gland replaced, bearing against the plug. 

0. What should be done where it -would be required to run 
a Mellin compound with one cylinder? 

A. Block the slide valve on the disabled side in its central 
position and open the emergency valve, and the engine will 
run one-sided as a simple engine under similar circumstances. 

Q. At what pressure should the pop valve on the L.P. 
chest be set? 

A. At 45 per cent of the boiler pressure. 



7S6 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. If the engine failed to start when the throttle was opened, 
what should be done? 

A. If at a terminal, and time permit, the reducing sleeve 
should be taken out and cleaned. 

Q. In ease of emergency, how may this sleeve be loosened 
so as to be made to work without removal? 

A. By removing the oil plug at the cavity A and admitting 
a liberal supply of headlight oil, following this with some 
valve oil. If this should loosen the sleeve, it may continue 
to work all right if oiled a little more freely from the lubri- 
cator when the engine is drifting or standing. 

Q. Why not admit oil at the hand oiler or the lubricator, 
instead of removing the plug at the cavity A? 

A. Because if the throttle was leaking, the oil could not be 
admitted at the hand oiler ; besides, part of the oil admitted 
would go directly to the L.P. chest. Further, the small 1/16- 
inch choke in the oil plug entering the cavity A might be 
stopped up. 

Q. Do the intercepting valve and reducing sleeve usually 
give warning before they become dry enough to stick suf- 
ficiently tight to prevent the engine from starting? 

A. Yes ; the first warning of dry and sticky valves will be 
given by the pop valve on the L.P. chest, which will raise. 
If it raises often, care should be taken to ascertain if the 
valves are properly lubricated before they are allowed to stick 
and delay the train. 

Q. After cleaning the intercepting valve and reducing sleeve, 
if it is found that the engine would not start after the valves 
had been forced to the compound position, what could cause 
this trouble? 

A. Leakage past the small packing rings on 'the forward end 
of the reducing sleeve, or past those on the intercepting-valve 
stem. 






ACCIDENTS WITH COMPOUND ENGINES. 787 

0. Are leaky packing rings the cause of most of the trouble 
that we have with bad-ii'orking intercepting valves and reduc- 
ing sleeves? 

A. No ; most of the trouble with the intercepting valves 
and reducing sleeves is caused by the parts becoming dry and 
gummy, causing them to stick. 

Q. Would it be good practice to set the lubricator to feeding 
about one drop of oil on the L.P. side to four drops on the 
H.P.? 

A. Yes; the oil feed to the L.P. side would mostly go to 
the L.P. chest while the engine was working compound, and 
to the cavity A when drifting or standing. 

Q. If the engine starts all right, changes into compound 
and will not change into simple when the emergency exliaust 
valve is opened, what should be done: 7 

A. Ascertain at once if steam is being admitted properly to 
the rear of the emergency exhaust-valve piston. Cases have 
also been found where leakage of steam past the piston and 
stem prevented the emergency exhaust valve from being 
moved ahead against the main receiver pressure and the ten- 
sion of its own spring. 

0. If the engineman Hud that the engine cannot be con- 
verted from compound into simple without almost closing the 
throttle, what should he report? 

A. A leakage of steam past the rings in the emergency 
exhaust-valve piston, as all steam that leaks past these rings 
escapes to the exhaust cavity without having any effect toward 
unseating the emergency exhaust valve. 

Q. If the engine starts all right, but will not change into 
compound, notwithstanding the operating valve is in compound 
position, what is wrong? 

A. The emergency exhaust valve is being held open, thus 
preventing accumulation of sufficient pressure in the main 



788 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

receiver to force the intercepting valve ahead into the com- 
pound position. 

Q. Would it be good practice to simple the engine when 
the- speed has been reduced to six or eight miles per hour I 

A. No; with this engine no power is lost at the moment 
when it is converted into simple. This should be done only at 
very slow speed. 

Q. Is it necessary to simple the engine when switching? 

A. Not usually. It can be handled all right with the 
emergency exhaust valve in compound position. If, however, 
it must be stopped at a specified point, it should be simpled. 
This will permit escape of the receiver pressure to the atmos- 
phere and prevent any movement after the throttle is closed. 

Q. In starting trains should the engine be simpled? 

A. Ordinarily yes, as it will start the train better, and work- 
ing the emergency exhaust valve occasionally keeps it in better 
condition. 

Q. Why must these engines be run as compound to attain 
high speed? 

A. When running simple the small exhaust passage around 
the emergency exhausts steam from the H.P. cylinder, and 
the small admission port B will not supply sufficient steam 
to the Li.P. cylinder at high speed, therefore the engine must 
be worked compound if high speed is to be attained. 

Q. If after simpling on a hill the speed of the train increases 
considerably, should the lever be cut back a little or should the 
engine be changed to compound? 

A. It should be converted to compound, never workecl 
simple, except with the main valves cutting off at full stroke. 

Q. Should the engine pound badly when it is zvorked with 
a cut-off much shorter than half stroke, what would be the 
cause? 

A. High compression in the H,P. cylinder. Enginemen 






ACCIDENTS WITH COMPOUND ENGINES. 789 

should note the cut-off at which the engine works best, and 
not place the reversing lever back of that point on the 
quadrant. The damage which might ensue from excessive 
compression will thus be avoided. 

Q. If the engineman notices that the engine pounds badlx 
when drifting, and that the engine lays back agaiiist the train 
and is inclined to stop'as soon as the steam is shut off, what 
should he report? 

A. It is almost invariably found, with these engines, that 
the pounding noticed w T hile drifting is due to gummed and 
stuck over-pass valves. These should receive prompt atten- 
tion. 

Q. What should be done in case of a breakdown? 

A. Convert the engine into simple and proceed the same as 
with a disabled simple engine. 

0. The engine suddenly fails on account of lack of steam, 
and the engineman is' unable to handle the train. There is 
a bad blow from the stack when the throttle valve is opened. 
What should be done? 

A. Examine the over-pass valves at once. 

0. Hozc could the over-pass valves cause this trouble? 

A. They must close when the engine is running under 
steam, to prevent live steam from blowing through from the 
cylinder to the exhaust passage. If they should stick open it 
would not only rob the cylinder of its pressure, but would 
also rob the boiler of its steam. 

ACCIDENTS WITH THE SCHENECTADY COMPOUND. 

0. In case of breakage or disconnection of the H.P. main 
rod, li'hat should be done? 

A. The valve on that side should (if the steam chest is large 
enough, which it is not in some older engines of this type) 
be put ahead to clear the exhaust port, and the piston blocked 
in the forward cvlinder end. Where the steam chest is small, 



790 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

and the Allen valve is used, H.P. steam may pass into the 
exhaust through the Allen port if the valve is moved to 
extreme position. Where neither of these plans ean be used, 
the H.P. valve can be placed to cover all ports. The engine 
should also be run with throttle partly closed. 

Q. Where will the intercepting valve then remain? 
A. In starting position ; supplying steam to the L. P. cylinder 
through the poppet valve. 

Q. What would be the course of the steam in this case? 

A. Through the H.P. exhaust port into the receiver, and 
thence to the L.P. chest; causing the L.P. cylinder to act 
high pressure. 

Q. When the L.P. cylinder of a Schenectady compound is 
running H.P. y what care should be taken? 
A. Not to open the throttle suddenly. 

Q. What should be done in case of breakage or disconnec- 
tion of the L.P. main rod of a Schenectady compound? 

A. The piston head should be blocked in the back end of the 
cylinder; the low-pressure valve should, if the chest is long 
enough, be moved back to clear the exhaust port and cover 
the back port. 

In some cases the valve will not move back enough on all 
engines to open the exhaust port. When Allen valves are 
used the exhaust may pass through the Allen port, but in 
other cases it may be necessary to take off the forward cyl- 
inder head and exhaust through the front steam port, or to 
unscrew the relief valve in front of the cylinder saddle and 
exhaust through the hole thus made. 

Q. // either of these methods must be used, how could steam 
be maintained? 

A. With the blower; but the engine could take only a small 
load. 

Q. Hozv could a free exhaust be obtained in all cases? 



ACCIDENTS WITH COMPOUND ENGINES. 791 

A. By taking out the L.P. valve; but this would involve 
too much work under ordinary circumstances. 

Q. Why should the exhaust port be left open/ 

A. To give the H.P. exhaust an outlet. 

Q. When a valve-rod breaks on a Schenectady compound, 
what should be done? 

A. The same as for a broken main rod on that side ; and the 
main rod should be disconnected and the crosshead blocked. 

0. In ease the intercepting valve of a Schenectady com- 
pound had its back head broken out, could the engine be run 
compound? 

A. Yes, because the steam in the intercepting- valve cylinder 
could not move the valve to the starting position, and the 
high-pressure exhaust would hold it in compound position. 

0. In this case would steam escape from the intercepting- 
valve cylinder? 

A. No, unless the lever in the cab was in starting position. 

0. Could H.P. steam be used in both cylinders for starting, 
if the intercepting-valvc cylinder had its back head broken 
out? 

A. Yes, by blocking the poppet valve from its seat (before 
opening the throttle, of course), to let live steam into the 
L.P. chest. 

0. Could a Schenectady compound be run with the L.P. 
cylinder only, if the H.P. valve covered all the ports? 

A. Yes, live steam could pass through the intercepting 
poppet-valves into the L.P. chest, if the lever in the cab 
was put in starting position, to let the steam into the back 
end of the intercepting- valve cylinder ; thus closing the 
receiver and holding open the poppet. 

Q. Why in this case will not the intercepting-valvc open 
and close the poppet? 

A. Because there would be no steam in the receiver. 



792 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. Hoiv else than by blocking could the poppet be held 
open so as to let live steam into the low-pressure chest? 

A. By removing the intercepting- valve cylinder back head, 
blocking the piston-head in the forward cylinder-end, and 
replacing the head; or by doing the same thing with the 
small piston which moves the valve, admitting steam to the 
intercepting-valve cylinder. 

Q. What should be done in case of breakage of both H.P. 
cylinder-heads of a Schenectady compound? 

A. Put the H.P. valve in the position to cover all its 
ports ; disconnect on that side. 

Q. What should be done with the valves when running with 
L.P. cylinder alone? 

A. The same as noted under the first question relating to 
accidents with this type of engine (breakage or disconnection 
of the high-pressure main-rod). 

Q. Suppose it is desired to run a Schenectady compound 
high-pressure for some time after starting, as on an up-grade? 

A. Schenectady compounds cannot be run high pressure, 
except for a revolution or so at starting. Shifting the lever 
in and out of starting position, although it would admit some 
live steam to the low-pressure cylinder, would also close the 
intercepting-valve and block the H.P. cylinder, unless a 
separate exhaust- valve were used; and there would probably 
be no gain in power over compound working, 



CHAPTER VIII. 
THE ELECTRIC HEADLIGHT. 

Q. What are the principal parts of the Pyle electric head- 
light? 

A. The turbine steam engine, the dynamo-electric generator 
driven thereby, and the arc lamp fed by the current from the 
latter. 

0. What are the principal parts of the dynamo? 

A. The armature, the commutator, the field magnets, and 
the pole pieces. 

Q. What is a magnet? 

A. A body having a magnetic field, and two points called 
poles, and which has the power of ( i ) attracting the unlike 
poles of another magnet, (2) repelling the like pole of another 
magnet, or (3.) attracting to either pole readily magnetizable 
bodies— such, for instance, as iron filings. 

Q. Can a magnet have more than two poles? 

A. No ; but sometimes two or more magnets may be so 
placed together as to appear like a single magnet having more 
than one pair of poles. 

Q. Hozv many general classes of magnets are there? 

A. Two ; permanent magnets and electro-magnets. 

Q. What is a permanent magnet? 

A. One of hardened steel or other "paramagnetic" material, 
which retains its magnetism a long time after being magnet- 
ized. 

0. What is an electro-magnet? 

A. One in which magnetism is induced by the passage of an 



794 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



electric current through a coil of insulated wire surrounding 
a core of magnetizable material. 

Q. What name is given to the magnetizing coil? 
A. A helix or solenoid ; usually the latter. 

Q. What is Ampere's rule for determining which pole of a 
bar magnetized by a coil is north? 

A. To imagine yourself lying in the coil with your face 
towards the bar being magnetized, then the north-seeking 
(so-called "north") pole will be on your left*. 



Fig 427. 
Right-hand Coil. 



Fig. 428. 
Left-hand Coil. 



Q. Give another ride? 

A. With a right-handed coil the north pole will be at the 
end from which the current flows ; with a left-handed coil, at 
the end toward which it flows. (See Figs. 427 and 428.) 



ELECTRIC HEADLIGHT. 795 

Q. To what is the magnetic strength of an electro-magnet 
proportionate? 

A. (i) To the strength of the magnetizing current (pro- 
vided the core is not saturated) and (2) to the number of 
turns of the coil surrounding the magnet. 

Q. What is the most usual shape of electro-magnets? 

A. The U or horseshoe form, in which, for purposes of con- 
venience, the bar or its equivalent is bent so as to bring the 
poles beside one another, the effect of the current being the 
same, so long as the flow is not reversed in passing from one 
end of the core to another. 

Q. In a simple dynamo-electric generator, whence comes the 
electric current to excite the magnet core? 

A. From the machine itself ; either the whole of the current, 
or a portion thereof, being passed around the magnet core. 

Q. What is the object of the pole pieces? 

A. They are simply lateral prolongations of the ends of the 
magnet, to fill up the air gap and thus lessen the resistance 
offered by the air in the gap to the passage of the magnetic 
force lines ; air being about 700 times as resistant as soft iron. 

Q. In theory, does it make any difference whether the mag- 
nets or the coils are rotated? 

A. No; or both might be rotated in opposite directions; or 
if there were a difference in lineal velocity they might both 
be rotated in the same direction. 

Q. What is the ground principle of the dynamo-electric 
generator? 

A. That when a magnet is moved near a coil of insulated 
wire forming a circuit, or the latter is moved near a magnet, 
a current of electricity is induced in the coil during the move- 
ment. 

0. What is this principle called? 

A. Magnetic induction, 



796 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. If a bar magnet is moved in a coil, what results? 

A. It induces in the coil a current, forming it into a coil 
magnet, the poles of which are in such position as to attract 
those of the moving bar magnet in the reverse direction to 
tLat in which they are moving, thus opposing the magnet's 
motion. This opposition must be overcome by force, and the 
thus expended energy (less what is dissipated as heat) reap- 
pears as an electric current in the coil circuit. 

Q. Does it make any difference whether the magnet is 
moved in the coil, or the coil is moved over the circuit, as far 
as the generation of the current is concerned? 

A. No. 

Q. What is the function of the field magnets in a dynamo- 
electric generator? 

A. To produce a magnetic field which the armature coils 
cut as they rotate between the magnet poles. 

Q. How are the currents generated in the armature coils? 

A. By induction; magnetism having the power to produce 
electricity, just as electricity has to produce magnetism. 
When any coil passes through the magnetic field so as to cut 
an increasing or decreasing number of lines of magnetic force, 
a current is generated in the wire, in amount proportionate 
to the number .of lines of force that are cut, and in direction 
dependent on the direction of motion of the wire. 

Q. What partial conditions are necessary in order that the 
electric current may be generated or induced in a wire? 

A. That a ring of wire be so rotated, actually or relatively, 
between the poles of the magnet, that it will cut the magnetic 
force lines passing between those poles. 

Q. What governs the force of the current? 
A. (i) The strength of the magnets, on which the number 
of force lines for a given area depend; (2) the number of 



ELECTRIC HEADLIGHT. 



797 




Fig. 429. 
Generator. 



turns of wire in the coil; (3) the rotation speed; that is, 
the number of times the coil cuts the force lines. 

Q. In what direction is the current generated in the rotat- 
ing wire? 

A. In both directions alternately through 
the coil ; but the direction each time is gov- 
erned by fixed laws. Suppose, for exam- 
ple, by referring to the sketch, the current 
passes from the north pole to the south pole 
from left to right, and the coils rotate in the 
opposite direction to the hands of the clock, 
the current will be induced from back to 
front in each w T ire of the armature coil as 
it passes before the north pole and cuts the 
force lines from above, and from front to 
back when during the next half rotation it 
passes before the south pole and again 
cuts the force lines, this time from beknv. (Fig. 429.) 

Q. Hozv can these alternate currents be brought into use 
as a continuous current? 

A. By the commutator, in which one end of the wire passing 
round the coils is attached to one strip of brass or copper 
lying along the circumference, and the other end to another, 
which, if there are but two poles to cut, is exactly diametrically 
opposite. Two metal springs pressing against these strips 
enable the current to pass from the machine through one outer 
conducting ware, and back again through the return conductor 
to the other strip, thus completing the circuit. During one- 
half rotation of the machine the current flows from the first 
strip through the first wire, back through the second wire to 
the second strip ; then during the next half rotation from the 
first strip to the second wire, back through the first wire to 
the second strip, thus again completing the circuit, and making 
of all the short currents one practically continuous one. 



798 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

0. How is the commutator attached to the armature? 
A. It is on the same shaft and rotates therewith. 

Q. 'Are all dynamos as simple as that just described? 

A. No; where there are many armature coils there are as 
many pairs of commutator strips, insulated from each other 
by mica. 

Q. Of what character is the magnet in the ordinary dynamo? 

A. It is of soft iron, in which magnetism is excited by coils 
of wire surrounding it. Simple machines excite themselves 
by the current which they generate; in others, there are 
separate generators for this purpose. 

Q. What sort of excitation is desirable zvhere the zvorking 
is constant, as where there is only one lamp to light? 

A. The magnets may be excited either (i) by passing 
around them all the current from the machine, in which case 
the machine is said to be "series excited" ; or (2) by using 
separate generators to excite the principal one, thus keeping 
the magnetic field constant. (Fig. 430.) 

Q. What sort of excitation is desirable zvhere the external 
zvork is subject to variation? 

A. To shunt off a portion of the main current to do the 
excitation. This may be done either (1) by dividing the cur- 
rent, as it leaves the armature, into two branches, one for the 
magnets and the other for the external circuit (Fig. 431) ; or 
(2) by dividing the current into two branches, one of fine 
wire of high resistance, which goes around the magnets only ; 
the other of larger wire which not only forms the external cir- 
cuit, but also goes round the magnet. 

Q. What is a direct-current dynamo? 

A. One which by means of a commutator brings all the cur- 
rents together into one continuous stream. 

Q. What is an alternating-current machine? 



ELECTRIC HEADLIGHT. 



799 



A. One in which the currents are generated, constantly 
reversed in direction, at intervals imperceptibly minute. 

Q. What are the principal classes of electric lamps in use? 

A. (i) Arc and (2) incandescent. 
• Q. Which are the most powerful? 

A. The arc lamps. 



(■•(S 


l N 




! c 


- > 




I 


■» 






; ! 









H 


1H\ 1 

V O I N 




> 1 > 


] 


1 


i 


» 3 


<. 


< 


\ 


! i ! 


< 


> 5 r 




— * c : 







Fig. 430. 
Series and Shunt. 



Fig- 431.' 
Series Wound. 



Q. How many volts of current are produced when the 
dynamo of the Pyle electric headlight makes 1,800 turns a 
minute? 

A. Thirty-five. 

Q. How 1 many amperes? 

A. Twenty-three. 

0. What would be the result of short-circuiting? 

A. Increased voltage, or tension, of the current. 

0. How may one determine in which direction the current 
Hows? 

A. The point of the positive pole is heated up first. 



800 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

Q. How can the engineman know when the speed is danger- 
ously increased? 

A. By the copper point giving off a green light. 

Q. What is to be done in such a case? 
A. The steam is to be throttled. 

Q. What else can cause green light besides excessive speed? 

A. Wrong attachment of the wires, that is, the negative 
wire attached to the positive binding post. 

Q. Hozv is the engineman to know whether the green light 
is caused by too high speed or by wrong connections? 

A. Too high speed causes gradual change from green to 
white light ; crossed wires cause green light at once. 

Q. On what principle does the Pyle arc lamp zvork? 

A. If a conductor carrying an electric current be divided 
and the two ends slightly separated, the current will cross the 
space between them ; but as this break offers a resistance to 
the passage of the current, heat, which is the result of resist- 
ance, is produced ; the greater the resistance the more the heat. 
If at each end of the broken conductor a piece of carbon be 
attached and the two brought close together, the heat gener- 
ated by the resistance will cause them to glow ; there will be 
formed a so-called Voltaic arc. Part of the carbon will be 
volatilized, light being caused by the intensely heated carbon 
vapor, and by the glowing carbon points themselves. The car- 
bon will naturally be gradually consumed. A reflector back 
of the arc directs its rays, which pass in all directions there- 
from, in a parallel beam. 

Q. In what direction is the current supposed to pass? 

A. From the carbon representing the north pole and 
marked -f- (plus) to that representing the south pole and 
marked — (minus). 

Q. Do both carbons burn away equally? 

A. No ; the positive one burns away twice as fast as the 



ELECTRIC HEADLIGHT. 



801 



negative, and gets hollow at the end, while the latter keeps its 
Driginal pointed shape. 

Q. In what relative positions are the carbons placed? 

A. In a vertical line, with the positive one Fig. 432. 

above; its hollow end serving to throw the 
light downward. 

Q. If the carbons burn away, how is the 
light maintained? 

A. By clockwork or other mechanical ar- 
rangement, which keeps them at a constant 
distance. 

Q. What may be said of the rate of burning 
of the two carbons in lamps fed from alternat- 
ing-current machines? 

A. Both burn away equally; there is then 
neither permanent north nor permanent south 
pole. 

Q. What is an incandescent lamp? 

A. One in which the current carried by a 
copper conductor meets with a resistance in 
the body of the lamp, in the shape of a fine 
filament, usually of carbon, which glows by reason of the heat 
generated by the lamp's resistance. 

Q. Why is not the filament consumed by the heat? 
A. Because there .is no air in the glass bulb, and oxygen, 
which is contained in air, is necessary to support combustion. 

Q. Hozc is the arc of the Pyle electric headlight lamp pro- 
duced and kept up? 

A. There is a long spiral called a solenoid, through which 
passes a soft iron core w T hich is made a magnet by the action 
of the electric current flowing through the solenoid. When 
the current flows in the coils and the carbons are being con- 
sumed, the arc grows longer, the strength of the magnet in 




Fig. 433- 
Carbons. 



802 



LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 



the solenoid lessens, and at a certain degree of weakness the 
magnet lets go of the clutch which holds the upper or positive 
carbon, letting it start to drop towards the under one; but 
before it can reach this, which would put out the light by 
diminishing the resistance, the magnet is again strengthened, 
and hinders further downward movement. 

Q. Does not this alternating action cause flickering of the 
lamp? 

A. It is softened by the use of a dash pot. 




Fig. 434. Pyle Electric Headlight. 



Q. Has the Pyle lamp two carbon poles or electrodes? 

A. No ; the upper one is of carbon and the lower of copper, 



ELECTRIC HEADLIGHT. 



803 



improperly called by the maker "the" electrode. As a matter 
of fact, both poles are electrodes. 

Q. What happens to the carbon electrode in the act of 
burning? 

A. It becomes hard and burns away. 

Q. What happens to the copper electrode? 
A. It becomes covered with scale, which must be cleared 
off from time to time. 




Fig. 435- Pyle Electric Headlight Engine. 



Q. Describe the engine which drives the dynamo in the Pyle 
electric headlight equipment? 

A. The principle is the same as that governing the ordinary 



804 LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM. 

turbine waterwheel ; there is a rotating casing having jets or 
passages set obliquely to the radii; steam emerging from this 
at high pressure drives the wheel around at high speed, partly 
owing to the fact that the jets of steam issuing in one direction 
at an angle to the radii strike other passages in the casing, 
inclined in the opposite direction. The general principle is 
that the steam must enter the wheel at maximum velocity, and 




Fig. 436. Rear View of Lamp and Reflector. 

leave it with practically none at all, its force and motion being 
imparted to the wheel. 

Q. What controls the speed of this engine? 

A. A governor of the so-called centrifugal type, having 
weights revolving about an axis and tending to separate with 
increase of speed and close up towards the axis. They operate 



ELECTRIC HEADLIGHT. 805 

the steam admission valve, choking off the steam if the speed 
tends to increase, and giving more if it tends to decrease. 

Q. What is the normal speed of this engine? 

A. About i, 800 turns per minute. 




Fig. 437. Method of Smoothing Up the Commutator. 

Q. Suppose the speed should reach a point at which the 
governor could not control it? 

A. There would come into play a centrifugal brake, set to 
act at about 150 turns more than the governor. 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 

Illustrations are marked *. Look first under the principal nouns. 



Page 

Accessories 581 

Accidents, see under various 
kinds. 

Acid in feed water 142, 168 

Adhesion 589 

Adjustment of rod brasses 293 

See valve setting. 

Admission 331 

Advance, angular 264, 310 

Air chamber 146 

Air, compressed, as motive 

power 604 

Pump, see pump. 
Whistle, see brake whistle. 
American locomotives. .303, 310, 754 

Faults 210 

American type *21, 378, 379, 380 

Ampere's rule 784 

Angle, lead 333 

Angularity of connecting-rod, 

294, *334 

Anthracite, grate for 48 

Arch, brick *77, *79, 80, 108 

Smoke 101, 109 

Tubes 79 

Armature coils 796 

Arm, rocker 309 

Arresters, spark 101, 104, 106 

Articulated engine *34, 38 

Ashpan 763, 762 

Cleaning 130, 760 

Inspection of 744 

Atlantic type *21, 22, 47, 408 

Austrian engines 99, *100 

Axle, blocked *696 

Axles 377, *380, 381 

Broken 695, 714 

Built up 382 

Crank *308, *309, 382 

Driving *396, 399 

Babbitting 388 

Babbitt metal 389 

Backing 693 

Baffle plate 105, 107, 110 

Balancing 502, 507, 508, 514 

Balance strips, hard-running. . . 639 

Balanced valves, see valves. 

Baldwin compounds, see com- 
pounds. 

Baldwin oil burner, see oil 
burner. 

Baldwin water brake, see brake. 

Barrel, boiler 42 



Page 

Bars, binding 365 

Crown 54, 72, 75 

Equalizing 400 

Grate 86 

Batchellor compounds, see com- 
pounds. 
Beam, equalizing, see bars. 

Bearings, lead-lined 390 

Bell 581, 582 

Belpaire boilers, see boilers. 
Fireboxes, see fireboxes. 
Bissel trucks, see trucks. 

Blast Ill 

Blast, exhaust 115 

Blocking up 707, 720 

Blower 66, 70, 107, 751, 756 

Joints 113 

Pipe, see pipe. 

Blowing from stack 788 

Off 129, 760 

Out 141 

Blow-offs 168 

Blows 673 

Bogev trucks 404 

Boilers 12, 39, 40, *52, 367 

Accidents to 605 

Barrel 42 

Belpaire 40, 51 

Capacity 24 

Changing 609 

Cleaning 745 

Cooling down 141, 745 

Diameter 42 

Direct stayed 75 

Efficiencv of 112 

Emptying 69, 688 

Extended top 42 

Extended wagon top 40 

Filling in emergency, 

611, 619, 621, 625, 626 

For anthracite 48 

Horse power ....■ 358 

Inspection 742 

Iron 43 

Materials 40 

' Materials, tests of 43 

Narrow firebox 40 

Of Penn. RR. "O" engine.. *94 

Plugging holes in 614 

Requirements of 42 

Robert *195, *196 

Seams, stresses in 46 

Shell . . 42 

Shells, curve of 46 



808 



INDEX. 



Page 

Boilers, stayless 72 

Steel for 40, 43, 49 

Straight top 40, 43 

Strength of 43 

Stresses 47 

Testing 747 

Wagon-top 40, 54 

Washing out 747 

Water-tube *195, *196 

Wide firebox 40 

Wootten 40, 47 

Bolts, frame 368 

Stay . ... a 55, 63 

Strap, shearing 695 

Tie. see bolts, stay. 

Wedge, broken 727 

Booth-Wade oil burners *768 

Box, cinder 102 

Boxes, journal, accidents to. . . . 724 

Driving 389, *393 

Driving, rolling . 726 

Hot 727 

Journal ...389, *393, 407, *580 

Braces 293 

Firebox 74 

Brakes 39, 417 

Brake accidents 728 

Air, whistle for 457 

Application of 467 

Automatic 419 

Baldwin water 453 

Cam 467 

Driver , 451,467 

Freight 455, 456 

High-speed 420, 447 

Le Chatelier 452 

Quick-action 420, 421 

Reducing valve for 460 

Releasing improperly 730 

Steam 452 

Straight air 417 

Tender 451 

Vacuum 452 

Valve, engineman's, 

427, 428, 429, 430 

Water 452, 453 

Westinghouse . . 419 

Brakemen, duties of 745 

Brasses 297, 298, 307, 388, 407 

Accidents to 724 

Filing 737 

Keying 689, 737 

Lining up 398 

Breakdowns 735 

Breaking in an engine 750 

Brick arch 77, 79, 80, 108 

Lauder's experiments on . . . 78 

Bridge 77, 79 

Broken 646, 674, 676 

British locomotives 323 

Brooks compounds, see com- 
pounds. 
Buchanan firebox, see firebox. 

Buckles 47 

Buffing stresses 595 

Burning an engine 755 

Culm 90 



Page 
Burning of extended smoke-box. 114 

Bushing, cylinders 205, 206 

Bushings, rod 294 



Cab 

Calking 

Carbons 800, 

Castings, patching 

Cast-iron grate bars 

Cellar packing 

Cellars 

Oil 

Center, dead 

Finding exact 

Parallel 

Chains, check 

Chamber, combustion 

Check, broken 

Chains 

Chest blow 

Check 

Plug 

Chocks for use in accidents. . . . 

Choke in lubricator pipes 

Cinders 

Cinder box 

Circulation 

Classification 

Clearance . ; 205, 235, 236, 

Inside 

Piston 

Coal, anthracite 

Bituminous, firebox for. . . . 

Bituminous, grate for 

Consumption 48, 54, 

78, 86, 95, 112, 754, 

Grate for 

Saving 

Soft 

Cocks, grinding 

Cock, blow-off, broken 

Blow-off, broken 

Feed 

Surface, opening for foam- 
ing 

Coke 

Colbnrn firebox 

Collisions 

Column, water 

Colvin compounds 

Combustion 

Chamber 

Gases 

Commutator 

Smoothing 

Compressed air for injectors, 159, 

Compressor, Sweeney 

Compression 234, 336, 

Compound engine, 

12, 34, 38, 449, 

Articulated 543, 

Baldwin, see compounds, 
Vauclain. 

Batchellor 516, ' 

Cole balanced, 

560, 561, 562, 

Dean 



578 
46 
801 
632 
81 
489 
407 
389 
305 
739 
739 
408 
91 
614 
408 
673 
408 
486 
717 
486 
759 
103 
193 
18 
344 
345 
217 
758 
51 
48 

762 

82 
131 
762 
748 
614 
616 
148 

18 
764 

55 
731 
133 
516 
753 

91 
112 
798 
805 
162 
452 
343 

781 
544 



540 



563 
516 



INDEX. 



809 



Page 
Compound engine, four-cylinder. 570 

Lapage 504, 521 

Lindner 516 

Mallet *34, 516, 543, 544 

Mallet, starting power of. . 574 

Mellin 516, 535 

Meyer-Lindner 516 

Perm. RR 516 

Pitkin 516, 522, *523, 

*524, *542 

Pittsburg 516 

Receiver 506 

Receiverless 510 

Richmond ...516, 535, 536, 538 

Richie 521 

Rogers 516 

Schenectady •. 516, 522, 

*523, *524, *525, *526, 789 

"Simpling" 542, 546, 788 

Starting power of 521 

Tandem 570 

Three-cylinder 520 

Tractive power of 594 

Two-cylinder 300,521 

Von Borries's 516, *534 

Vauclain 52, 199, *201, 

*202, 209, 516, 530, *531, 
*532, *533, *548, *549, 
*550, *551, *552, *553, 

*554, *577, 781 

Webb's *198, 521 

Condensation in cylinders 209 

Condensing engines 12 

Coning of drivers 387 

Coning wheel treads 384 

Consolidation engines. .. .26, 37, 

296, 297, 299, 415 
Accidents to. .655, ,695, 707, 722 

Consumption of coal 54, 95, 112 

Control of train 745 

Cooling down the boiler 141 

Copper flues 92 

Copper stay bolts 64 

Corrugation of fire boxes 63 

Cotters 748 

Cough of exhaust 676 

Counterbalance 412, 599 

Couplings, hose 442 

Cowcatcher 585 

Cracking of extended smokebox. 311 

Cracking of firebox 55, 62 

Cranks 291, 303, *306, 

307, *309 

Inside 303 

Crank position 740 

Crank-pin travel 216 

Crank-pins, hot 491 

Crosby gage 128 

Cross feeding 481 

Crosshead 217, 219, *221, *224 

Accidents to 648 

Blocking 630, 632 

Laird blocked *650 

Pin, keying 740 

Vauclain *220 

Cross section of flues 94 

Crown bars 54, 75 



52 



629 
673 
500 
*566 
752 
634 
791 
139 
635 
632 



Page 

Crown sheet 72, 74, 140 

Crown-stay bolts and nuts 76 

Crows' feet 47 

Crude oil for firing 775 

Culm burning 90 

Currents, alternate 796 

Curved fireboxes 73 

Curves 384 

Accidents on 690 

Action of 601 

Curve of boiler shells 46 

Cushion, see compression. 

Excessive 513 

Cut-off 340 

Earliest 257 

Economical point of 346 

Limit of 

Accidents to 

Cylinder blow 

Capacity 

Cock work *208, *209, 

Cocks *567, 

Cocks, fastening 

Head, broken 629, 781, 

Heads, knocking out 

Head nuts 

Head, removing 

Lining 209, < 28 

Oiling 645 

Ratio, see ratio. 

Cylinders 197, *203, *204, 

*207, 209 
Shutting off 631 



Dampers 120, 762 

Damper, ash-pan 71 

Chimney 114 

Inspection of 744 

Liittgen's *102 

Decapod *26 

Deflector 105, 755 

De Glehn compound 557 

Derailments 690, 732 

Designing compounds 576 

Locomotive 604 

Diagrams, conventional ....... 512 

Expansion *507, *511 

Valve, Walschaert *281 

Diameter of boiler 42 

Flues 93, 94 

Rivets 45 

Diamond stack, see stack. 

Trucks 405 

Diaphragm 102, 103, 7156 

Direct-current dynamo 798 

Direct-motion engine 310 

Direct-stayed boilers 75 

Disconnecting 616, 687 

Dome 98 

Door, furnace 55 

Double-acting engines 12 

Draft 102, 104, 112 

Forced 107 

Lessening 114 

Natural 107 



810 



INDEX. 



Drawbar, broken 

Pull 

Stresses 
Drawing the fire! ..... !86," 130 

Drips, ill effects of 

Driver, auxiliary 

Box 389, 

Box, broken 

Box, repacking 

Drivers 

Number of 

Replacing tires on....* 708 
*709, 

Size of 

Weight on 22, 27 

Driving 

Wheels, blind 

Wheel diameter 

Drop grates 

Drum, mud 

Dumping fires 86 : 

Duties of brakeman 

Fireman 

D valve 

Dynamo 

Dynamometer 



Page 
61)1 
513 

595 

, 614 

750 

596 

*393 

*720 

491 

381 

27 

*710 
25 

, 402 
378 
387 
502 
88 
172 

, 614 
745 
744 

*226 
793 
590 



Eccentrics 246, 309, *312, 

♦318, *320, *321 

Eccentricity of 230 

Location of *31 5 

Motion 308 

Accidents to 658 

Rod length 667 

Setting 333, 347, 664 

Single *311 

Throw of 230 

Eccentric disk, diameter 341 

Efl&ciency 604 

Of boiler 112 

Eight-wheel type *21, 398 

Electric locomotives 31 

Electrode 802 

Electromagnet 793 

Emergency application of brakes 

442, 467 

Stops 431 

Engine brakes, see brakes. 

Engines, compound 12 

Condensing 12 

Double-ended 12 

Horizontal 12 

Inclined-cylinder 12 

Non-compound 12 

Non-condensing 12 

Reversible 16 

Rotary 16 

Engine runner, duties of 745 

Engineer, traveling 745 

English fireboxes 64 

Locomotives ....48, 97, 98, 

377, 379 

Equalizer 400 

Broken 701, *702, *703 

Equalizing bars *370, *375 

Equalizers, blocking 717, 722 



Page 

Essential features of a locomo- - 

tive 11 

European locomotives 504 

Trains 761 

Evaporating capacity 48 

Evaporation 95, 1 92 

Excitation 798 

Exhaust 93, 106, 336, 342, 356 

Blast 116 

Lame 683 

Losing 674 

Nozzle 92, 103, 115, *119 

Of Baldwin compounds 781 

Of compound engines 502 

Pipes 116 

Square 341 

Tip .• 122 

Uneven 678 

Whistling 678 

Expanding flues 93, *96 

Plates 47 

Expansion, steam 340 

Explosions 130, 140 

Cause of 64 

Express locomotive *21 

Extended smoke box... 103, 105, 107 

Burning and warping of . . . 114 

Extension front 120 

Fast freight locomotive 24 

Feed, failing 618 

Heating 155 

Water, acid in 168 

Water heater 742 

Water works 144 

Ferules 95 

Fire, banked 625, 758, 763 

Door 68, 69 

Drawing 86,130,614, 

687, 762 

Drenching 618, 626, 758 

Dumping 86, 614 

Tearing 118, 756, 764 

Thickness 90 

Throwing 121 

Turning 755 

Firebox 20, 27, 49, 97, 194 

Belpaire 73 

Braces 74 

Buchanan 53, 54 

Colburn 55 

Copper 49 

Cracking of 55, 62 

Curved 73 

English 64 

For wood 51 

For hard coal 49 

For soft coal 51 

Heating surface of 96 

Materials for 49 

Milholland 49, *53 

"Mother Hubbard" 55 

Narrow 40 

Regulation of 63 

Rupture of 63 

Sheets, failing of 62 

Vanderbilt 56, 58 



INDEX. 



811 



Page 

Firebox, wide 40 

Wootten 51 

Firemen, examination of 778 

Firemen's duties 744, 755 

Firing 754 

Smokeless 763, 774 

With oil 773, 774 

Flange, broken 732 

Flanges 385 

Cut 385, 689, 691, 

712, 762 

Friction 384 

Flats 385 

Flat-top fireboxes 76 

Flexible stay-bolts 66 

Flue, burst 606 

Flues 92 

Brass 92, 97 

Calking 607 

Choking 756 

Copper 92 

Cross section 94 

Diameter 94 

Expanding 94, 96 

Leaky 92, 93, 97, 607, 

673, 756 

Length of 94 

Plate 95 

Plugs, driving 607 

Serve 97 

Stoppage of 95, 97 

Foaming ...134, 179, 181, 608, 616 

Follower blows . 677 

Bolt, loose 633 

Foot plate 583 

Forced draft 107 

Forney locomotive 23 

Four-cylinder engines 247 

Frame, truck, broken 723 

Slab 368 

Front end 108, 318 

Frames 364, 365, 368, 392 

Accidents to 691 

Built up 366 

For narrow-gage engines. . . 369 

Squaring 728 

Freezing of injectors 624 

Freight engines 18, 23 

Helper engines 39 

French Northern compound 521 

Friction 480 

Flange 384 

Frogs, wrecking 732 

Front end 104 

Self-cleaning 108, 113 

Fuel 22 

Saving 131 

Saving by injector 161 

Supply 23 

Funnel, sand for oil burners. . . 774 

Furnace door 55 

Deflector 68, 69 

Sheet 54 

Gage cock 759 

Glass, broken 606 

Glass, cleaning 606 



Page 

Gage glasses, cutting 73 7, 747 

Gages, pressure 127, *128 

Recording, for air brake. . . . 455 

Steam, inspection of 743 

Thickness 395 

Water 133 

Gases, combustion 112 

Gaskets 113, 114 

Forced 614 

Gear, single eccentric 270 

Gears, valve 249 

Generator, magneto-electric 796 

Gibs, removing *704 

"Gladstone" locomotive 48 

Gland, stuffing box, broken 630 

Grades 569, 753, 759 

Grate 81 

Area 22, 86, 90 

Bars 86 

Cast-iron 81 

For bituminous coal. . . .48, 

82, *89 

For hard coal . 82 

For wood 82, *87 

Grates, drop 88 

Inspection of 744 

Opening 90 

Plain *89 

Rocking *82, *84, 88 

Shaking # 761 

Surface 112 

Water tube 88 

Width 47 

Grimshaw formula for horse 

power 357 

Grit in water 141 

Guide bearer •. . . *221, *224 

Guides 219 

Accidents to 648 

Broken 651 

Crosshead *221 

Oiling 490 

Gum, removing 605 

Hale ashpan 71 

Half saddle 207 

Hancock inspirator 164, *165 

Hand holes 172 

Hanger, broken 678. 715, 

*718, *719 
Head, back 16 

Cylinder, broken 636 

Headlight *565, *585, *803 

Electric 793, 800, *802 

Heating feed 155 

Surface 90, 95, 96 

Surface of firebox 96 

Honeycombing 606 

Hook, V 251 

Valve motions . .250, *251, 253 

Hooking up compounds 565 

Horizontal engines 12 

Horsepower 357, 603 

Formulas 357 

Of a boiler 194 

Hose, injector, freezing 629 

Lining, loose 622 



812 



INDEX. 



Page 

Hose, obstructed 62 8 

Hub, broken *694 

Inclined cylinder engines 3 2 

Indicator 359 

Attachments 201 

Diagrams . .- .340, *341, 

*344, *360 

Bilgram's *363 

Indirect acting valves 246 . 

Induction, magnetic 795 

Industrial railways 385 

Injector 153, *159, 1 60 

As heater 629 

Injectors, accidents to 607 

Metropolitan 622 

Monitor 623 

Sellers *622 

Stopping 629 

Working of 619 

Inside admission valves 244 

Bearing trucks 23 

Inspection 741, 783 

Of stay bolts 66 

Inspirator, Hancock 164, *165 

Iron boilers 43 

Jacking up 732, 733 

Joints, blower 113 

Exhaust pipe 120 

Knuckle ! 296 

Smokepipe, leaky 103 

Steampipe 207 

Steampipe, leaky 612 

Strap 301 

Tightness of 120 

Journal box, see box. 

Broken 714 

Journals 388 

Crank-pin 293 

Hot .!... 727 

Keying up 302 

Keys 293, 297 

Driving 397 

Offset *264 

Piston-rod, loose 636 

Shearing 664 

Keyway, piston-rod, cracked .... 636 

Knocks and pounds 493 

Knuckle joints, see joints. 

Korting smoke consumer, 

*59, *60, *61 

"K" triple valve 470, *471, 

*473, f474 

Lagging 171, 210 

Lamps, arc 799 

Incandescent 799, 801 

Lap 231, *233 

Inside 235 

Outside 234 

Steam 231 

Welded seams 44 

Lassoe-Lovekin oil burner. 770, *771 

Lead 232, 234, 257, 314, 

*332, *348, 364 



Page 

Lead angle 333 

Constant 335 

Inside 236 

Negative 338, 363 

Leak in smoke arch 106 

Leaks 92, 93, 97, 673 

Level, water . 136 

Lever, reverse, uncontrollable. . . 612 
Levers, equalizing, see bars. 

Lifter accidents 671 

Lime carbonate 142 

For foaming 181 

Scale in injectors 160 

Sulfate 142 

Liners for brasses 738 

Lining cylinders 209, 728 

Up shoes and wedges 390 

Link motions 14 

Links and hangers, accidents to. 668 

Adjusting 736 

Shifting *253 

Stephenson's ...254, *261, *265 

Local freight locomotive *29 

Passenger locomotive *23 

Service *28 

Trains 93 

Locomobiles 95 

Locomotives, articulated .... *34, 38 

Austrian 99, *100 

Compound *34, 38 

Consolidation *26 

Consumption of coal 86 

Decapod *26 

Electric 31 

English 48, 97, 98 

Express *21 

Forney *23 

For local freight 28 

For fast freight *24 

For local service *28 

Freight 18, 23 

Freight helper 39 

Rack 39 

Local passenger 23 

Mallet 34, 38 

Mine 31 

Passenger 20 

Penn. RR. Class "O." 

*13, *15, *17, *50, *65 

Suburban 18 

Switching *23, 28 

Ten-wheel 25 

Loops 587 

Lubricants 1 83 

Lubrication 479, 752 

Lubricators, cylinder, failing. . . . 632 

Magnet 793 

Manhole in netting 103 

Material for boilers 40 

For boilers, test of 43 

For firebox 49 

For rivets . -. 43 

Metropolitan traffic 23 

Mileage 603 

Mine locomotive 31 

Moguls 24, 296, 299, 371, 

385, 398, 400 



INDEX. 



813 



Moguls, accidents to. .698, 609, 

705, 706, 707, 722 

Motion, lost 337 

Mud 142, 189 

Drum 172 

Removing 172 

Ring 67 

Mulay tires 385 

Muffler 173 

Narrow-gage frames 369 

Lines . . 385 

Natural draft 107 

Netting .102, 103, 104 

Non-compound engines 12 

Non-condensing engines 12 

Nozzles 107, *119, 756 

Clogged 674, 678 

Concentric 117 

Double 109, 117 

Exhaust 92, 103 

Reaming 748 

Single 109 

Stopped 674, 678 

Tips 110 

Tips, lost 674 

Nuts, cylinder-head 635 

Offset *264 

Oil as fuel, see petroleum. 
Burner, Baldwin's, 

769, *770, *762 

Burner, Santa Fe *769 

Burner, Sheedy *769 

Burner, Southern Pacific. .. *769 

Burners *57, *58 

Burning 765, 774 

Cans 491 

Cellars 389 

In boilers 138 

In the tank 180 

Lubricating 487 

Overtravel causing blow 674 

Oxygen 753 

Pacific type 22, 47 

Packing blows 667 

Cellar 489 

Cylinder, blowing 677,682 

Dunbar *215 

Follower-bound 635 

Metallic, giving out 631 

Piston 635 

Piston, loose 679 

Piston, tightness of 675 

Rings *215 

Rings, breakage of 139 

Rings, leaky 787 

Rod *219 

Rod, Swiderski's 218 

Spring 216 

Steam 216 

Testing 568 

Passenger engines 20 

Pedestal jaws 367 

Penn. RR. engines 367 



Page 
Penn. RR. engines, class "O," 

*13, *15, *17, *50, *65, 

*199, *200 
Petroleum for removing scale... 191 
Philadelphia & Reading engines. *86 

Pilot 583, *584 

Pin, "Aleck," broken 701 

Center 371, 405 

Center, broken 722, 723 

Center, tramming 739 

Crank 303, 396 

Crank, accidents to 657 

Deck, broken 690 

Split 748 

Pipe, blower 115 

Branch, burst 614 

Draft 126, 761 

Drv 177 

Dry, burst 612 

Drv, leaky 611, 674 

Exhaust 116 

Petticoat ...109, 114, 120, 755 

Steam 177 

Steam, broken 613 

Steam, blow from 673 

Steam, leaky 60,613 

Steam, studs for 113, 114 

Suction, frozen 629 

Suction, leaky 627 

Waste, frozen 628 

Piston 214, *215 

Accidents to 633 

Area 228 

Blows 679 

European 218 

Fastening 634 

Head, loose 781 

Pounding 494 

Rings, broken 676 

Speeds, to calculate 358 

Pitching 370 

Pitting of boiler 606 

Plate, baffle 105, 107, 110 

Center 405 

Diaphragm 103 

Plates, expansion 47 

Plugging holes in boiler 614 

Stay-bolt holes 66 

Plugs, boiler 757 

Safety 143 

Pole pieces 795 

Port area 228 

Length 246 

Ports, steam, leaving open 736 

Pounding 48, 493, 633, 788 

Power, loss of 379 

Brakes, see brakes 417 

Prairie type 408 ' 

Pressure gages, see gages 127 

High 12, 131 

Mean effective ...379, 500, 514 

On crank pin 305 

In receiver 508 

Steam . . . . 129, 182 

Priming 179 

Promotions 779 

Pump, air 422, *423, *424 



814 



INDEX. 



Page 

Pump, air, accidents to 728 

Air, frozen 729 

Air, governor for 435, *43(5 

Draining 626 

Feed 143, *144 

Feed, accidents to 617 

Pumping by towing 619 

Up 136, 149 

Quartering 397 

Rack locomotives 39 

Radial gears 250 

Stays 76, 77 

Rails 365, 370 

Rail lengths 604 

Rainy season, influence of, on 

flue leakage 9 

Ratio, cylinder 503 

Reach rod, accidents to 672 

Receivers 509 

Reciprocating parts 218 

Re-evaporation 501 

Regenerated steam 502 

Release 342 

Repairs 741 

Reservoir, main, of air brake... 426 

Resistances 600 

Reverse gear 330 

Gear, German.. *336, *337, *338 

Lever *324, *329 

Lever, position of 749 

Reversible engines 16 

Reversing 751 

Action of link 261 

Rings, leaky 566 

Packing *215 

Rivet diameter 45 

Holes 44, 45 

Material for 43 

Seams, strength of 44 

Spacing 45 

Rocker *211, 309, *314 

Accidents to 669 

Arm 354 

Shaft, accidents to 669 

Rod, angularity of 363 

Brasses, adjustment of . . . . 293 

Rods *298 

Connecting , 290 

Connecting, accidents to.... 651 
Connecting, angularity of, 

294, 334 
Connecting, broken ....784, 789 
Connecting, pounding of . . . . 497 

Coupling 297, 399 

Coupling, accidents to 651 

Coupling, broken 783 

Coupling, keying 736 

Eccentric ..290, 297, 319, *321 

Eccentric, shortening 684 

Eccentric, crossed . . . *255 *266 
Eccentric, open.*255, *265, *269 

Ends *137, *291, *292 

Main, see rod, connecting. 

Packing, metallic *219 

Parallel, see rods, coupling. 



Page 

Rods, piston, accidents to 633 

Piston, broken 636 

Piston, fastenings of 216 

Piston, Vauclain's *215 

Stresses on 291 

Valve, of pump *449, *460 

Valve, broken 781, 783. 791 

Roller valve, Bristol *243 

Rolling 370 

Rotatory engines 16 

Running board 581 

Gear 408 

Runs 603 

Rupture of fireboxes 63 

Sand box *505 

Funnel for oil burners *774 

Sanding 590, 599, 610, 751 

Scale 1 89 

In injectors 624 

Removing 1 72 

Scales, thermometric '..... 184 

Scoop, tender 579 

Screws, set 661 

'Seams, boiler, lap-welded 44 

Boiler, strength of 44, 46 

Boiler, stresses on 46 

Boiler, tightness of 46 

Separator 142 

Service application of brakes, 

431, 441, 467 

Shaft, tumbling 322 

Tumbing, accidents to 670 

Sheave, eccentric 316 

Sheet, crown 72, 74 

Sheets, leaky 756 

Shell, boiler 42 

Boiler, curve of . 46 

Boiler, straight 43 

Shoes, driving brake 390, 391 

Shutting off 750 

Side rods, see rods, coupling. 

Sight-feed glasses 480 

Signal, engineer's 581 

Equipment 459 

Six-wheel engines 39i) 

Slack adjuster 444, *445, *446 

Slides, crosshead, oiling 492 

Sling stays 72, 76 

Slip of wheels 379, 590, 598 

of link, reducing 260 

Slow , .. 232 

"Smart" engines 749 

Smoke 753 

Arch 109 

Arch, leaky 106 

Box 100, *101 

Box, extended 103, 

105, 107, 756 
Box, extended, warping of.. 112 
Box, extended, cracking of.. Ill 
Consumer, Korting's. 

*59, *60, *60 

Solenoid 794, 801 

Space, steam 136 

Spacing of rivets 45 

Sparks 101 



INDEX. 



815 



Page 

Spark arresters 101, 104, 106 

Arresters, Sturm's ....113, 114 

Speed, calculating 604 

Spider blows - 677 

Loose 494 

Spokes 381 

Spreader *394 

Spring hangers *377 

Springs 370, *372, 

373, *374, *375, 402 
Accidents to ....687, 715, *716 

Square, sliding *391 

Stack 122 

Diameter of 119 

Diamond 104, *123, *124 

Length of 119 

Stalling 569 

In snow 688 

Starting and stopping 748 

Compounds 568, 788 

Power 574, 591 

Staybolts 62, 63 

Copper 64 

Flexible 66 

Hollow 754 

Inspection of 66 

Plugging 66 

Removable 55 

Staying crown sheets 72 

Stays, radial 76, 77 

Sling 72, 76 

Steam 181 

Chest *203, 211 

Chest, broken 644. 751 

Consumption 132, 359 

"Dead" 751 

Distribution 364 

High pressure 130 

Production 191 

Space 136 

Saturated 181 

Superheated 181 

Superheated, rod packing 

for 218 

Velocity of 157 

Weight of 157 

Steaming, bad 608, 755 

Stopping 748 

Places 743 

Strainer, obstructed 628 

Strap ends 294 

Eccentric 309, 316 

Straps 297, 298 

Connecting rod 302 

Safety *702 

Stresses, buffing 595 

Drawbar 595 

On boiler seams 46 

Stub end *297 

Studs, steam-pipe 113, 114 

Stuffing box 217 

Out of order 686 

Suburban engines 18, 23 

Suction 149 

Air chamber 146 

Superheater, Lauger's.186, 187, *190 
Schmidt's 185, *186 



Page 

Surface, grate 112 

Heating 90, 95, 96 

Switching engines *23, *28, 29 

Table, water »-.,."." 81 

Taper of drivers 387 

Tanks 579 

Back 23 

Box *259 

Closed *258 

Disconnecting 688 

Inspection of 743 

Lime in for foaming 181 

Oil in 180 

Open *258 

Tearing of fire 118 

Temperature, smoke box, 

103, 113, 114 

Steam 138 

Of water 138 

Tender 451, 578 

Emptying 688 

Ten-wheel engines 25, 299, 

371, 381, 3S5, 399 

Testing boilers 747 

Water . . ,. ,.-.,.' 142 

Tests of boiler materials 43 

Thermal units in steam 182 

Thermometric scales 184 

Thickness, gage 395 

Of fire 90 

Three-cvlinder engines ....197. *198 

Throat sheet 24, 26 

Throttle 173 

Chambers' 177 

Leaky 611 

Pipes 176 

Uncontrollable 610 

Work 175 

Throttling for foaming 181 

Through trains 93 

Throw 308 

Tie bolts, see staybolts. 

Tightness of seams 46 

Tires *380, 381, 382 

Accidents to 704 

Flat spots on 495, 731 

Broken 710 

Loose 742 

Mulay 386 

Replacing *708, *709, 710 

Wear of 387 

Tools 748 

Towing in 616, 734 

Traction 588 

Increaser 402, *596 

Tractive power 400 

Traffic, metropolitan 23 

Suburban 23 

Trailing trucks, see trucks. 

Train handling 465 

Speeds 469 

Trains, local 93 

Through 93 

Tramming *348 

Trams *391 

Adjustable *392 



816 



INDEX. 



Page 

Transom, broken 723 

Travel, valve 231,237 

Trimming, wick 489 

Trucks 403, 404, *411 

Accidents to 722 

Bissell 403, *406 

Plant 410 

Outside bearing 23 

Pony *21, *406 

Tender 579 

Trailing 22 

Truck boxes, oiling 68, 490 

Radial swing *410 

Wheel flanges, broken 713 

Tubes, see also flues. 

Arch 79 

Water *77 

Turntable 587 

Turret, cab . 195 



U Magnets 

Valve, Allen, or Trick 238, 

*239, *242, 

Balanced slide. .240, *241, 

Balanced slide, broken 

Balanced slide, casing for. . 

Balanced slide, positions of. 

Balanced strips leaking. . . . 

Blocking *638, 

Blows 

Brake, triple 

Brake, feed slide valve, 

432, *433, 

Bushings 

Check, stuck 618, 620, 

624, 627, 

Chest, see steam chest. 

Chocking 

Chocked 646, 

D 

Dividing 

Drop hook 

Dry, test for 

Gear 249, 250, *268, 

*269, 

Gear, Alfree-Hubbell 

Gear, Allan 

Gear, Pink 

Gear, Gooch *265, 

Gear, Helmholtz 

Gear, Heusinger vori Wal- 



Gear, hook 

Gear, inside 

Gear, Joy . 

Gear, lost motion in 

Gear, models 288, 

Gear, out of order 

Gear, radial 

Gear, Walschaert . ... *273 
*274, *276. 
Gear, without links or ec- 
centrics 

Gear, Young's 

Graduating 

Indirect acting 



795 

338 

*242 

640 

*640 

*641 

681 

782 

677 

*440 

*434 
*249 

743 

637 

673 

*226 

684 
250 
662 

*320 

*284 

268 

*272 

*266 

282 

*270 

233 

*329 

282 
495 
*289 
686 
250 

*284 

288 
287 
441 
246 



Page 

Valve, inside admission 244 

Intercepting ..*517, *524, *525 
Intercepting, to chock open. 784 

Intercepting, stuck 784 

Intercepting, von Borries. . . *534 

Joy 282 

"K" triple brake 470, 

*471, *473, *474 

Lapless *311, *313 

Lapped ...232, *312, *314, 332 

Lead 232 

Lining 684 

Motions, see valve gears. 

Muffled *171 

Oiling 612 

Outside admission 245, *246 

Piston *226, 244, *245, 354 

Piston, Schmidt's *247 

Piston, Vauclain's hollow.. *24S 

Pop 131, 171 

Pressure-retaining 442, 443 

Pump, lift of 619 

Pump, pounding 618 

Reducing 447, 

448, *449, *460 

Relief 212, 751 

Relief, blown out 632 

Relief, throttle, burst 611 

Rod, broken, see rods 781 

Safety 169, 170, *171, 743 

Safety, accidents to 612 

Seat 227 

Seat blow 673 

Seat, false 647 

Setting 347, 398, 736 

Signal ..: *460 

Slide 14, 225, 233, *235 

Slide, accidents to 636 

Slide, balanced 242 

Squaring 685 

Starting *519, *567, 568 

Stem, accidents to 636 

Stem, bent 673 

Stem blow 674 

Stem, broken 642, 

643, 783, 784 

Stem, disconnecting 642 

Testing tightness of 637 

Travel .231, 237 

Trick, see valve, Allen. 

Triple 420 

Triple, ice in 729 

Triple, "K" 470, * 

*471, *473, *474 

Triple, plain , *439 

Triple, quick-action 438 

Triple, retarded release. ... *476 

Whistle, broken 616 

Whistle, unmanageable .... 613 

Yoke, broken 639 

Vanderbilt firebox *56, 58 

V hook 251 

Wagon top boilers 54 

Waist 42 

Warping of extended smoke box, 

112, 114 



INDEX. 



817 



Page 

Water, bad 66 

Water column 133 

Feed 66 

Feed, too hot 628 

Grit in 141, 623 

Hardness of 141 

In the cylinders 501 

Level 133, 136 

Lime in 142 

Low 625 

Sandy 162 

Saving 129 

Supply 23 

Table 81 

Testing 142 

Tubes *77 

Watt's horsepower rule 357 

Webb locomotives 300 

Wedges 369, 390 

Accidents to 724 

Wedge bolts 367 

Driving 391 

For accidents 720 

Setting 296, 6S9, 728, 740 

Weight distribution 400 

On drivers 22, 27 

Wheels 377, *380 

Accidents to 691 



Page- 

Wheels, arrangement 20 

Base 30, *32, *33. 399 

Blocked up . *721 

Broken 713 

Centering *38& 

Diameter 591 

Driving *306, *307 

Guards 584 

Tender, broken *715 

Testing 742: 

Truck, broken *693, 724 

Whistle 172, *173, 581, 582 

Air, for brakes 457 

Stem, broken 616 

Wick trimming 489 

Windings of dynamo *799 

Wind resistance 601 

Wire drawing 339 

Wood, firebox for 51 

Grates for 82, *87 

Stack for *125 

Wootten engines 578 

Work done by water and steam. 164 
Wrecks 687, 744 

Y's 587 

\ oke, valve 228 

Young valve gear, see valve gear. 



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has encumbered many text books, yet not omitting hints from 
the past which have a meaning in the present. The latest and 
best authority on all branches of applied electricity. Pocketbook 
size. Handsomely bound in leather, with title and edges in gold. 
800 pages. 500 illustrations. Price, $3.50. 
"SLOANE. Rubber Hand Stamps and the Manipulation of Rubber. 

A practical treatise on the manufacture of all kinds of rubber 
artices. 146 pages. Second edition. Cloth. $1.00. 



Publications of The Norman W. Henley Publishing Co. 

SLOANE. Electric Toy Making, Dynamo Building, and Electric 
Motor Construction. 

This work treats of the making at home of electrical toys, 
•electrical apparatus, motors, dynamos, and instruments in gen- 
<eral, and is designed to bring within the reach of young and old 
the manufacture of genuine and useful electrical appliances. Fif- 
teenth edition. Fully illustrated. 183 pages. Cloth. $1.00. 
SLOANE. Liquid Air and the Liquefaction of Gases. 

Containing the full theory of the subject and giving the 
entire history of liquefaction of gases from the earliest times to 
the present. 365 pages, with many illustrations. Second edition. 
$2.50. 
SLOANE. Standard Electrical Dictionary. 

A practical handbook of reference, containing definitions of 
about 5,000 distinct words, terms and phrases. An entirely new 
edition, brought up to date and greatly enlarged. Complete, con- 
cise, convenient. 682 pages. 393 illustrations. $3.00. 
USHER. The Modern Machinist. 

A practical treatise embracing the most approved methods of 
modern machine-shop practice, and the applications of recent 
improved appliances, tools and devices for facilitating, duplicat- 
ing and expediting the construction of machines and their parts. 
A new book from cover to cover. Fifth edition. 257 engravings. 
322 pages. Cloth. $2.50. 
VAN DERVOORT. American Lathe Practice. 

A new book from cover to cover. It is strictly up-to-date in 
its descriptions and illustrations, which represent the very latest 
practice in lathe and boring-mill operations as well as the con- 
struction of and latest developments in the manufacture of these 
important classes of machine tools. A large amount of space is 
devoted to the turret lathe, its modifications and importance as a 
manufacturing tool. 320 pages. 200 illustrations. $2.00. 

VAN DERVOORT. Modern Machine Shop Tools; Their Construc- 
tion, Operation and Manipulation. 

This is a book of reference that will be found convenient 
in every machine shop. Suppose it is desired to know how to 
cut bevel gears, to calculate milling machine spirals or to make 
countershaft calculations; or to get information about tap drill 
sizes, the classification of files; change gear calculations; deep 
hole drilling; turning tapers; testing lathes, etc.; or any one 
of the numerous questions that a little information might be de- 
sired upon occasionally — these pages will be found to contain 
the satisfactory answer. The book will also prove a boon to 
students in manual training, as by studying its pages and apply- 
ing its principles to the school shop, they will be able to acquire 
a good knowledge of shop practice. The book has numerous 
tables, and in addition to the chapters strictly on tools are 
several on fastenings, gearing, belting, shafting, and the treat- 
ment of steel. 552 pages and 673 illustrations. $4.00. 
WALLIS - TAYLOR. Pocket Book of Refrigeration and Ice 
Making;. 

This explains the properties and refrigerating effect of the 
different fluids in use, the management of refrigerating machinery 
and the construction and insulation of cold rooms with their re- 
quired pipe surface for different degrees of cold; freezing mix- 
tures and non-freezing brines, temperatures of cold rooms for all 
kinds of provisions, cold storage charges for all classes of goods, 
ice making and storage of ice, data and memoranda ^or constant 



Publications of The Norman W. Henley Publishing Co, 

reference by refrigerating engineers, with nearly one hundred 
tables containing valuable references to every fact and condition 
required in the installment and operation of a refrigerating 
plant. Price, $1.50. 

WOOD WORTH. American Tool Making and Interchangeable 
Manuf act v ring. 

A complete treatise on the Art of American Tool Making and 
System of Interchangeable Manufacturing as carried on to-day in 
the United States. In it are described and illustrated all of the 
different types and classes of small tools, fixtures, devices and 
special appliances which are in general use in all machine manu- 
facturing and metal working establishments where economy, ca- 
pacity and interchangeability in the production of machined 
metal parts are imperative. 500 pages. 600 illustrations. Price, 
$4.00. 

WOOD WORTH. Dies, Their Construction and "Use for the Modern 
Working of Sheet Metals. 

A practical work on the designing, constructing and use of 
tools, fixtures and devices, together with the manner in which 
they should be used in the power press for the cheap and rapid 
production of sheet metal parts and articles. Comprising funda- 
mental designs and practical points by which sheet metal parts 
may be produced at the minimum of cost to the maximum of out- 
put, together with special reference to the hardening and tem- 
pering of press tools and to the classes of work which may be 
produced to the best advantage by the use of dies in the power 
press. Fourth edition. 400 pages. 500 illustrations. $3.00. 
WOOD WORTH. Hardening, Tempering, Annealing and Forging 
of Steel. 

A new book containing special directions for the successful 
hardening and tempering of all steel tools. Milling cutters, taps, 
thread dies, reamers, both solid and shell, hollow mills, punches 
and dies, and all kinds of sheet-metal working tools, shear 
blades, saws, fine cutlery, and metal-cutting tools of all descrip- 
tions, as well as for all implements of steel, both large and small, 
the simplest and most satisfactory hardening and tempering pro- 
cesses are presented. The uses to which the leading brands of 
steel may be adapted are concisely presented, and their treatment 
for working under different conditions explained, as are also the 
special methods for the hardening and tempering of special 
brands. 320 pages. 250 illustrations. $2.50. 
WRIGHT. Electric Furnaces and Their Industrial Applications. 

Contains 285 pages, and 57 illustrations, which are essentially 
in the nature of sectional diagrams, representing principles of 
construction. This is a timely and practical treatise on the forms 
and uses of electric furnaces in modern electro-chemical pro- 
cesses. Price, $3.00. 



THE WALSCHAERT 

LOCOMOTIVE VALVE GEAR. 

By Wn. W. WOOD, Air Brake Instructor 

Nearly 200 Pages PRICE $1.50 Fully Illustrated 

The only book issued that is devoted exclusively to 
the Walschaert Valve gear. If you would thoroughly 
understand the Walschaert Yalve Gear you should 
poi-sess a copy of this book, as the author takes the 
plainest form of a steam engine, a stationary engine 
in the rough, that will only turn its crank in one di- 
rection and from it builds up— with the reader's help — 
a modern locomotive equipped with the Waischaert 
Valve Gear, complete. 

The points discussed are clearly illustrated : two 
lavge folding plates that show the position of the valves 
of both inside or outside admission type, as well as the 
links and other parts of the gear when the crank is at 
nine different points in its revolution are especially 
valuable in making the movement cl ar. These em- 
ploy sliding cardboard models which are contained in a pocket in the cover. 

The book is divided Into four general divisions, as follows: 
I. Analysis of the gear. II. Designing and erecting the gear. III. Advantages 
of this gear. IV. Questions and answers relating to the Walschaert Valve Gear. 
This last division contains sixty pertinent questions with full answers on all the 
features of this type of valve gear, which will be especially valuable to firemen 
and engineers in prepariug for an examination for promotion. 




21st EDITIOiN 



UP-TO-DATE 



REVISED AND ENLARGED 



AIR BRAKE CATECHISM 

By- ROBERT H. BLACI1ALL 

Assistant to General Manager Westinghouse Air Brake Co. 

PRICE $2.00 

The Standard Book on the Air Brake. Contains 
over 2.000 questions and answers giving a detailed 
description of all the Old Standard and Improved 
Equipment. 

Owing to the many changes and improvements 
made in the Westinghouse Air Brake, it has been 
found necessary to issue the new, revis.d edition, 
which contains all the latest information necessary 
for a railroad man to pass his examination on the 
new as well as the older style of brake. 

The new revised edition covers fully and in detail 
the Schedule ET Locomotive Brake Equipment, H-5 
Brake Valve, SF Brake Valve (Independent ), SF 
Governor Distributing Valve, B-4 Feed Valve, B-3 
Keducing Valve, Safety Valve, K Triple Valve (Quick- 
Service) Compound Pump. 




^P*~ Copies of these Books sent prepaid on receipt of the price 

13he NORMAN W. HENLEY PUBLISHING CO. 

152 Nassau Street, NEW YORK. V. S. A. 




1908 EDITION-JVST PUBLISHED 

LOCOMOTIVE CATECHISM 

By ROBERT GRIMSHAW 

805 Pages, 437 Illustrations and TKree Folding Plates. Price $2.50 

The 1908 edition of "locomotive Catechism" by- 
Robert Grimshaw is a new book from cover to 
cover. It contains twice as many pages and double the 
number of illustrations, of previous editions. Specially- 
prepared Chapters on the Walschaert Loco- 
motive Valve Gear, the Air Brake Equipment 
©end the Electric Head Light are given. 

Treats fully and in detail on the design, construc- 
tion, repair and running of all kinds of locomotives. 
Among the subjects which we might mention as being 
included are : Classifications of locomotives, Boilers 
and Accessories, Flues, Cylinders, Pistons, Piston Valves, 
Cranks and Crank Pins, Eccentric Motions, Exhaust 
Coughs, Air Brakes, Lubricators, Knocks and Pounds, 
Compound Locomotives, Accidents and Breakdowns, 
Electric Head Light, Equalizers, Combustion, Firing 
with Oil, Walschaert Valve Gear, etc. 

Contains over 4,000 Examination Questions 
with their Answers, 

1908 EDITION-JVST PUBLISHED 

Locomotive Breakdowns and Their Remedies 

By GEO. L. FOWLER, revised by WM. W. WOOD 
285 Paiges Fvilly Illustrated Price $1.00 

The new 1908 edition of locomotive Breakdowns has been revised by Wm. W. Wood 
the railroad expert, which is sufficient guarantee that this work represents the best 
practice of the present day and is exhaustive in text and illustrations. 

Engineers are paid nowadays for getting their engines in 
to the terminal on time, and to accomplish this, there must 
be no casualties en rovite that will cause delay ; acci- 
dents, however, will happen, and it is the knowledge of 
How to Avoid Dela>y in Case of Accidents that the 
Company requires of engineers nowadays, and what to do 
in case of breakdowns. The revised 1908 edition of " loco- 
motive Breakdowns" is virtually necessary to every 
engineer, fireman and shop man, because it treats of every 
possible engine trouble and presents the remedy, in the 
form of questions and answers. 

Among the Contents are Chapters on Defective 
Valves, Accidents to the Valve Motion, Cylinders, Steam 
Chests, Cylinders and Pistons, Guides, Crossheads and Rods, 
Running Gears, Truck and Frame Accidents, Boiler 
Troubles, Defective Throttle and Steam Connections De- 
fective Draft Appliances, Pump and Injector Troubles, 
Accidents to Cab Fixtures, Tender Accidents, Miscellaneous 
Accidents, Compound locomotive Accidents, Tools .'*nd 
Appliances for Making Engine Repairs, Air Brake 

Troubles, Walschaert Valve Gear Troubles, Electric Headlight Troubles, etc. 

Contains Over 800 Questions with, their Answers 

&r° Copies of these Books sent prepaid on receipt of the price 

?5he NORMAN W. HENLEY PUBLISHING CO. 

132 Nassau Street. New York, U. S. A. 




FOWLER -WOOD 
1908 



TraiiY Rules and Train Dispatching 

By H. A. DALBY 

Over 220 Pages Fully Illustrated 

Bound in Leather Price $1.50 



Every railroad man, no matter what department 
he's in, needs a copy of this little book in his 
clothes all the time. It gives the standard rules 
for both single and double track, shows all the 
signals, with colors wherever necessary, and has 
a list of towns where time changes, with a map 
showing the whole country. Then the rules are 
explained wherever there is any doubt about their 
meaning or where they are modified by different 
railroads. It's the only practical book on train 
rules in print. 




RAILROAD POCKETBOOK 



250 Pages 



By FRED H. COLVIN 
Fully Illustrated 



Price $1.00 



Different from any book you ever saw. Gives clear and concise 
information on just the points you are interested in. It's really a 
pocket encyclopaedia, fully illustrated, and so arranged that you can 
find just what you want in a second without an index. Among the 
subjects included are : 

Acetylene Headlights Ejectors Oil Burners 

Air Brakes Fire Box Rails 

Crossheads and Guides Rods, Straps and 
Headlights Brasses 

Horse Power Superheated Steam 

Indicators Tractive Power 

Injectors Valve Motion 

Link Motion Walschaert Gear 



Brake Leverage 

Boilers 

Brakes 

Car Heating 

Coal 

Curves 

Cylinders 



|y Copies of these Books sent prepaid on receipt of the price 

&6e NORMAN W. HENLEY PUBLISHING CO. 

132 Nassau Street, New York. U. S. A. 



NEW YORK AIR BRAKE CATECHISM 

BY ROBERT H. BLACKALL 

Author of Westinghouse Air Brake Catechism 

250 Pages, Fully Illustrated. Bound in Cloth. Price $1.00 

This is the only complete treatise on the 
New York Air Brake and Signaling Apparatus, 
giving a detailed description of all the parts, 
their operation, troubles and the methods of 
locating and remedying the same. It includes 
and fully describes and illustrates the Plain 
Triple Valves, Quick-Action Triple Valve, 
Duplex Pump, Pump Governor, Brake Valves, 
Retaining Valves, Freight Equipment, Signal 
Valve, Signal Reducing Valve, and Cam Dis- 
charge Valve. It has been endorsed by the 
New York Air Brake Co. Contains nearly 
1,000 questions and their answers on the New 
York Air Brake and Signal apparatus. 

BLACKALL'S WESTINGHOVSE 
AIR. BRAKE CHARTS 




HD l ^m, fin IST 

mi) L IfHB-Ml JtSJyL wl 



PRICE 50 CENTS 

UP-TO-DATE Air Brake Charts, each 14 x 50 inches, printed in ten different colors 
on heavy ledger paper, showing the different connections from the engine throughout 
train. The Pump, Engineer's valve, Triples and all parts used are shown, each press- 
ure being represented by a distinct color. Every student of the air brake should 
possess these charts, as they are a complete Air Brake Course in themselves. 

Chart I. — Shows the most modern Westinghouse High Speed and Signal Equip- 
ment used on Passenger Engines, Passenger Engine Tenders and Passenger Cars. 

Chart II.— Shows the Standard Westinghouse Equipment for Freight and Switch 
Engines, Freight and Switch Engine Tenders and Freight Cars. 

%W* Copies of these Books sent prepaid on receipt of the price 

T5he NORMAN W. HENLEY PUBLISHING CO. 

152 Nassau Street, New York, U. S. A. 



LINK MOTIONS, VALVES AND 
VALVE SETTING 



By FRED. H. COLVIN 



Fully Illustrated 



Price 50 Cents 



A HANDY little book for the engineer or machinist that clears up 
the mysteries of valve setting. Shows the different valve gears 
in use, how they work and why. Piston and slide valves of 
different types are illustrated and explained. A book that every rail- 
road man in the motive power department ought to have. Contains 
chapters on : Locomotive Link Motion, Valve Movements, Setting Slide 
Valve, Analysis by Diagrams, Modern Practice, Slip of Block, Slide 
Valves, Piston Valves, Setting Piston Valves, Joy-Allen Valve Gear, 
Walschaert Valve Gear, Gooch Valve Gear, Alfree-Hubbell Valve 
Gear, etc., etc. 



MACHINE SHOP ARITHMETIC 

By COLVIN-CHENEY 

Most popular book for shop men. Shows how 
all shop problems are worked out and "why. " 
Includes change gears for cutting any threads ; 
drills, taps, shink and force fits ; metric system 
of measurement and threads. Used by all classes 
of mechanics , 50c. 



CAR CHARTS 

Shows and names all the parts of the three types 
of cars. Passenger — Box — Gondola. Printed on 
heavy plate paper and mailed in a tube, each 25c. 

TRACTIVE POWER CHART 

A chart whereby you can find the tractive 
j^*~- power or drawbar pull of any locomotive, with- 
|U^^* ! * i ^ out making a figure. Shows what cylinders are 
equal, how driving wheels and steam pressure 
affect the power. What size engine you need to exert a given draw- 
bar pull or anything you desire in this line. Printed on tough jute 
paper to stand rolling or folding 50c. 

4®=* Copies of these Books sent prepaid on receipt of the price 

75he NORMAN W. HENLEY PUBLISHING CO. 

132 Nassau Street, New York. U. S. A. 




A CATECHISM ON THE 

COMBUSTION OF COAL 

AND THE PREVENTION OF SMOKE 

By WILLIAM M BARR. 

Nearly 350 Pages 85 Engravings Cloth Binding Price $1.50 

An up-to-date Treatise on How to Make Steam, including Special Instructions as 
adopted by the Mechanical Department of the C. N. Q. & T. P. R. R., as well as 
descriptive matter on devices for smoke prevention of the Locomotive Smoke Pre- 
ventor Company: The Brick Arch; The Strong and Wootten Boilers; The South- 
ern Pacific Front End and Fire Door ; and the Methods of the Southern Pacific 
Railway in Burning Liquid Fuel, etc., etc. 

AHONQ THE SUBJECTS TREATED ARE 

Fuel. Heat Developed by Combustion. Stationary Furnace Details. 

Elementary Data. Fuel Analysis Locomotive Furnace Details. 

Combustion. Heating Power of Fuel. Chimney and Mechanical Drafts. 

Products of Combustion. Steam Generation. Spontaneous Combustion. 



BOILER CONSTRUCTION 

By FRANK A. KLEINHANS 




Over 400 Pages 

5 Large Folding Plates 



Price $3.00 
Fully Illustrated 



The only book showing how locomotive 
boilers are built in modern shops. Shows all 
types of boilers used ; gives details of con- 
struction ; practical facts, such as life of rivet- 
ing punches and dies, work done per day, 
allowance for bending and flanging sheets and. 
other data that means dollars to any railroad 
man. 
CONTAINS CHAPTERS ON 



paying Out Work. 
Flanging and Forging. 
Punching. 
Shearing. 
Plate Planing, 
General Tables. 
Finishing Parts. 



Bending. 
Machining Parts. 
Riveting. 
Boiler Details. 

Smoke Box Details. 
Assembling and Calking. 
Boiler Shop Machinery, etc., etc. 



£SF" Copies of these Books sent prepaid on receipt of the price 

15he NORMAN W. HENLEY PUBLISHING CO. 

132 Nassau Street. New York, U. S. A 



4 wm 



